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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Giovanni Mastrobuoni (Collegio Carlo Alberto); Paolo Pinotti (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the causal effect of immigrants' legal status on criminal behavior exploiting exogenous variation in migration restrictions across nationalities driven by the last round of the European Union enlargement. Unique individual-level data on a collective clemency bill enacted in Italy five months before the enlargement allow us to compare the post-release criminal record of inmates from new EU member countries with a control group of pardoned inmates from candidate EU member countries. Difference-in-differences in the probability of re-arrest between the two groups before and after the enlargement show that obtaining legal status lowers the recidivism of economically motivated offenders, but only in areas that provide relatively better labor market opportunities to legal immigrants. We provide a search-theoretic model of criminal behavior that is consistent with these results. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Crime, Legal Status |
| JEL: | F22 K42 C41 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2011.53&r=mig |
| By: | A. Naghavi; C. Strozzi |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study theoretically and empirically the role of the interaction between skilled migration and intellectual property rights (IPRs) protection in determining innovation in developing countries (South). We show that although emigration from the South may directly result in the well-known concept of brain drain, it also causes a brain gain effect, the extent of which depends on the level of IPRs protection in the sending country. We argue this to come from a diaspora channel through which the knowledge acquired by emigrants abroad can flow back to the South and enhance the skills of the remaining workers there. By increasing the size of the innovation sector and the skill-intensity of emigration, IPRs protection makes it more likely for diaspora gains to dominate, thus facilitating a potential net brain gain. Our main theoretical insights are then tested empirically using a panel dataset of emerging and developing countries. The findings reveal a positive correlation between emigration and innovation in the presence of strong IPRs protection. |
| JEL: | O34 F22 O33 J24 J61 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp774&r=mig |
| By: | de Brauw, Alan; Mueller, Valerie; Woldehanna, Tassew |
| Abstract: | Migration and remittances can be used by rural households as a means of insurance, investment, and income augmentation. Ample attention has been given to studying international remittance flows, since for many countries such transfers comprise a significant fraction of income. Remittance flows from internal migrants are relatively understudied, particularly in Africa, where remittance rates are poor. We use a unique matched migrant sample to study what drives the low remittance rates in Ethiopia. Descriptive statistics suggest remitters are positively selected in terms of wealth characteristics compared with the average tracked migrant. Limited skill transferability and liquidity largely explain low remittance rates in Ethiopia. Weaker evidence suggests migrants are additionally motivated to remit as a form of self-insurance against own shocks to income and investments towards future inheritable assets. |
| Keywords: | Insurance, Migration, Remittances, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1090&r=mig |
| By: | Goldmann, Gustave (University of Ottawa); Sweetman, Arthur (McMaster University); Warman, Casey (Queen's University) |
| Abstract: | The implications of human capital portability – including interactions between education, language skills and pre- and post-immigration occupational matching – for earnings are explored for new immigrants to Canada. Given the importance of occupation-specific skills, as a precursor we also investigate occupational mobility and observe convergence toward the occupational skill distribution of the domestic population, although four years after landing immigrants remain less likely have a high skilled job. Immigrants who are able to match their source and host country occupations obtain higher earnings. However, surprisingly, neither matching nor language skills have any impact on the return to pre-immigration work experience, which is observed to be statistically significantly negative. Crucially, English language skills are found to have an appreciable direct impact on earnings, and to mediate the return to pre-immigration education but not labour market experience. |
| Keywords: | immigration, human capital portability, occupation, language, education |
| JEL: | J24 J61 J62 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5851&r=mig |
| By: | Boubtane, Ekrame (University Paris 1); Coulibaly, Dramane (CEPII, Paris); Rault, Christophe (University of Orléans) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the causality relationship between immigration, unemployment and economic growth of the host country. We employ the bootstrap panel Granger causality testing approach of Kónya (2006) that allows to test for causality on each individual country separably by accounting for dependence across countries. Using annual data over the period 1980-2005 for 22 OECD countries, we find that, only in Portugal, unemployment negatively causes immigration, while in any country, immigration does not cause unemployment. We also find that, in France, Iceland, Norway and United Kingdom, growth positively causes immigration, while in any country, immigration does not cause growth. |
| Keywords: | immigration, growth, unemployment, Granger causality |
| JEL: | E20 F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5853&r=mig |
| By: | Avraham Ebenstein; Jian Zhang; Margaret S. McMillan; Kevin Chen |
| Abstract: | This paper examines a possible connection between China’s massive rural to urban migration and high chemical fertilizer use rates during the late 1980s and 1990s. Using panel data on villages in rural China (1987-2002), we find that labor out-migration and fertilizer use per hectare are positively correlated. Using 2SLS, employing the opening of a Special Economic Zone in a nearby city as an instrument, we find that village fertilizer use is linked to contemporaneous short-term out-migration of farm workers. We also examine the long-term environmental consequences of chemical fertilizer use during this period. Using OLS, we find that fertilizer use intensity is correlated with future fertilizer use rates and diminished effectiveness of fertilizer, demonstrating persistency in use patterns, and suggesting that in areas with high use of fertilizer, the land is becoming less responsive. We also demonstrate that fertilizer use within a river basin is correlated with organic forms of water pollution, suggesting that industrialization has induced pollution in China both directly and through its impact on rural labor supply. |
| JEL: | O1 O13 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17245&r=mig |
| By: | Chassamboulli, Andri; Palivos, Theodore |
| Abstract: | We analyze the impact of immigration on the host country within a search and matching model that allows for skill heterogeneity, endogenous skill acquisition, differential search cost between immigrants and natives, capital-skill complementarity and different degree of substitutability between unskilled natives and immigrants. Within such a framework, we find that although immigration raises the overall welfare,it may have distributional effects. Specifically, skilled workers gain in terms of both employment and wages. Unskilled workers, on the other hand, gain in terms of employment but may lose in terms of wages. Nevertheless, in one version of the model, where unskilled workers and immigrants are imperfect substitutes, we find that even the unskilled wage may rise. These results accommodate conflicting empirical findings. |
| Keywords: | Search; Unemployment; Immigration; Skill-heterogeneity |
| JEL: | F22 J61 J64 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:32379&r=mig |
| By: | Chiswick, Barry R. (George Washington University) |
| Abstract: | This policy analysis paper explores the implications for the host country population of alternative immigration policies. The two immigration options considered are a policy based on admitting primarily high-skilled workers and another that has the effect of admitting primarily low-skilled workers. The implications for the native-born population for their aggregate level of income, the distribution of their income by skill level, and the size of the income redistribution system are considered. The paper was prepared for the Productivity Commission of Australia. |
| Keywords: | immigration policy, immigrant skills, immigrant impact |
| JEL: | F22 J24 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izapps:pp28&r=mig |
| By: | Bauer, Thomas (RWI); Braun, Sebastian (Kiel Institute for the World Economy); Kvasnicka, Michael (RWI) |
| Abstract: | The flight and expulsion of Germans from Eastern Europe during and after World War II constitutes one of the largest forced population movements in history. We analyze the economic integration of these forced migrants and their offspring in West Germany. The empirical results suggest that even a quarter of a century after displacement, first generation migrants and native West Germans that were comparable before the war perform strikingly different. Migrants have substantially lower incomes and are less likely to own a house or to be self-employed. Displaced agricultural workers, however, have significantly higher incomes. This income gain can be explained by faster transitions out of low-paid agricultural work. Differences in the labor market performance of second generation migrants resemble those of the first generation. We also find that displacement considerably weakens the intergenerational transmission of human capital between fathers and children, especially at the lower tail of the skill distribution. |
| Keywords: | forced migration, economic integration, World War II, West Germany |
| JEL: | J61 O15 R23 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5855&r=mig |
| By: | Delaney, Liam (University College Dublin); Fernihough, Alan (University College Dublin); Smith, James P. (RAND) |
| Abstract: | The Irish-born population in England is in worse health than both the native population and the Irish population in Ireland, a reversal of the commonly observed healthy migrant effect. Recent birth-cohorts living in England and born in Ireland, however, are healthier than the English population. The substantial Irish health penalty arises principally for cohorts born between 1920 and 1960. This paper attempts to understand the processes that generated this migrant health pattern. Our results suggest a strong role for early childhood conditions and economic selection in driving the dynamics of health differences between the Irish-born migrants and White English populations. |
| Keywords: | healthy migrants, mental health, migrant selectivity |
| JEL: | J60 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5852&r=mig |
| By: | Lena Calahorrano |
| Abstract: | In the face of rising old-age dependency ratios in industrialized countries like Germany, politicians and their electorates discuss the loosening of immigration policies as one policy option to ensure the sustainability of public social security systems. The question arises whether this policy option is feasible in aging countries: older individuals are typically found to be more averse to immigration. However, cross-sectional investigations may confound age with cohort effects. This investigation uses the 1999-2008 waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel to separate the effect of age on immigration attitudes from cohort and also from time effects. Over the life cycle stated immigration concerns are predicted to increase well into retirement and decrease afterward. Relative to other issues, immigration concerns are found to actually decrease over the life cycle. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, demographic change, political economy |
| JEL: | D78 F22 J10 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp389&r=mig |
| By: | Clark, William A.V. (University of California, Los Angeles); van Ham, Maarten (Delft University of Technology); Coulter, Rory (University of St. Andrews) |
| Abstract: | The research reported in this paper examines the nature and extent of socio-spatial mobility in the United Kingdom. In contrast with previous studies, we do not only investigate who moves out of deprived neighbourhoods, but our models cover the entire spectrum of neighbourhoods and provide a more complete interpretation of the process of mobility across socio-spatial structures. We use the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) to classify neighbourhoods defined as small areas containing approximately 1500 people. We use the data from all available waves of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) to trace moves between these neighbourhoods, classified into deprivation deciles. We define upward socio-spatial mobility as moving to neighbourhoods with lower levels of deprivation. The focus on residential choices and the outcomes – residential sorting – allows us to measure the fluidity of the British social structure. We show that restricted ability to compete for the better neighbourhoods combines with residence in neighbourhoods with relatively high degrees of deprivation to limit opportunities for social mobility. The analysis shows that education and income play critical roles in the ability of individuals to make neighbourhood and decile gains when they move. There are also powerful roles of being unemployed and being (and becoming) a social renter. Both these latter effects combine to seriously restrict the possibilities for socio-spatial movement for certain groups. The results suggest serious structural barriers to socio-spatial mobility in British society, barriers which are directly related to the organisation of the housing market. |
| Keywords: | residential sorting, residential mobility, socio-economic status, deprivation, neighbourhoods |
| JEL: | J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5861&r=mig |
| By: | Raven Molloy; Hui Shan |
| Abstract: | Despite the recent flood of foreclosures on residential mortgages, little is known about what happens to borrowers and their households after their mortgage has been foreclosed. We study the post-foreclosure experience of U.S. households using a unique dataset based on the credit reports of a large panel of individuals to from 1999 to 2010. Although foreclosure considerably raises the probability of moving, the majority of post-foreclosure migrants do not end up in substantially less desirable neighborhoods or more crowded living conditions. These results suggest that, on average, foreclosure does not impose an economic burden large enough to severely reduce housing consumption. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2011-32&r=mig |
| By: | Olivier Joseph (Céreq); Séverine Lemière (IUT Paris Descartes et Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne); Laurence Lizé (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne); Patrick Rousset (Céreq) |
| Abstract: | This research focuses on individuals who consider they have been victims of discrimination. The aim is to look at the feeling of discrimination and to assess its effects on career paths seven years after leaving school. Taking data from the Class of 98 (Génération 98) survey by the Céreq, we used the method for grouping self-organising maps (Kohonen's algorithm), supplemented by an econometric analysis to distinguish eight major classes of career paths. In parallel, an interview survey was conducted. The results show a segmentation of career paths at two levels. On the one hand, young people of foreign origin who experienced discrimination are over-represented in certain paths, characterised by unemployment, temping or precarious work (inter- class segmentation). On the other hand, strong inequalities exist within those paths which provide rapid access to stabe employment, as persons obtain lower-quality jobs (intra-class segmentation). |
| Keywords: | Labor economics,segmentation, discrimination, youth, France. |
| JEL: | J71 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:11041&r=mig |
| By: | Juan D. Barón |
| Abstract: | Usando información de la Encuesta Continua de Hogares para el periodo 2001–2006, este documento explora la relación entre las condiciones del mercado laboral en las 13 principales áreas metropolitanas y la localización geográfica de los migrantes internos en Colombia. Adicionalmente, investiga si la migración se asocia a reducciones de las disparidades en las condiciones laborales entre ciudades. Los resultados indican que los migrantes recientes tienden a dirigirse hacia las ciudades principales que presentan las mejores condiciones laborales para las habilidades que ellos poseen. Esta asociación, sin embargo, es económicamente pequeña y no altera sustancialmente las persistentes diferencias en las condiciones laborales entre ciudades. ABSTRACT: Using information from the labor survey for the period 2001–2006, this paper explores the relationship between local labor conditions in the 13 main cities and the geographic location of internal migrants in Colombia. Moreover, it investigates whether migration is associated with reductions in labor market disparities among cities. The findings indicate that recent migrants move to cities where they face the best labor conditions for the skills they possess. Nevertheless, the association is economically small and does not seem to have a substantial impact on the differences in labor market conditions among cities. |
| Date: | 2011–07–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000102:008831&r=mig |