|
on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Gani Aldashev (Center for Research in the Economics of Development, University of Namur); Catherine Guirkinger (Center for Research in the Economics of Development, University of Namur) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of a large-scale economic crisis on gender equality, using historical data from Kazakhstan in the late 19th – early 20th century. We focus on sex ratios (number of women per man) in Kazakh nomadic population between 1898 and 1908, in the midst of large-scale Russian in-migration into Kazakhstan that caused a sharp exogenous increase in land pressure. The resulting severe economic crisis made the nomadic organization of the Kazakh economy unsustainable and forced most Kazakh households into sedentary agriculture. Using a large novel dataset constructed from Russian colonial expedition materials, we document a low and worsening sex ratio (in particular, among poor households) between 1898 and 1908. The theoretical hypothesis that garners most support is that of excess female mortality in poorer households (especially among adults), driven by gender discrimination within households under the increasing pressure for scarce food resources. |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nam:wpaper:1111&r=mig |
| By: | Ortega, J.; Verdugo, G. |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the impact of immigration on the labor market outcomes of natives in France over the period 1962-1999. Combining large (up to 25%) extracts from six censuses and data from Labor Force Surveys, we exploit the variation in the immigrant share across education/experience cells and over time to identify the impact of immigration. In the Borjas (2003) specification, we find that a 10% increase in immigration increases native wages by 3%. However, as the number of immigrants and the number of natives are positively and strongly correlated across cells, the immigrant share may not be a good measure of the immigration shock. When the log of natives and the log of immigrants are used as regressors instead, the impact of immigration on natives’ wages is still positive but much smaller, and natives’ wages are negatively related to the number of natives. To understand this asymmetry and the positive impact of immigration on wages, we explore the link between immigration and the occupational distribution of natives within education/experience cells. Our results suggest that immigration leads to the reallocation of natives to better-paid occupations within education/experience cells. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Impact, France. |
| JEL: | J15 J31 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfr:banfra:335&r=mig |
| By: | Mathias Sinning; Matthias Vorell |
| Abstract: | This paper compares the effects of immigration flows on economic outcomes and crime levels to the public opinion about these effects using individual and regional data for Australia. We employ an instrumental variables strategy to account for non-random location choices of immigrants and find that immigration has no adverse effects on regional unemployment rates, median incomes, or crime levels. This result is in line with the economic effects that people typically expect but does not confirm the public opinion about the contribution of immigration to higher crime levels, suggesting that Australians overestimate the effect of immigration on crime. |
| JEL: | F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:acb:cbeeco:2011-548&r=mig |
| By: | Katarzyna Budnik (National Bank of Poland, Economic Institute) |
| Abstract: | There is an increasing awareness of an empirical relevance of temporary migration. This literature overview attempts to summarize the current state of knowledge about drivers and economic role of temporary migration. It sets together elements of relevant theories of initiation, perpetuation and return migration, international trade and conclusions from a growing body of empirical literature on returns, remittances and behaviour of immigrants in host economies, including labour markets. Distinguishing between permanent and temporary migration may help to explain not only the dynamics of the actual labour force movements but also to better describe their impact on source and host economies. |
| Keywords: | temporary migration, migration theory, return migration, remittances |
| JEL: | F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbp:nbpmis:89&r=mig |
| By: | Katarzyna Budnik (National Bank of Poland, Economic Institute; Warsaw School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the emigration propensity of Polish workers between 1994 and 2009. Particular attention is paid to a labour market situation of prospective temporary emigrants, the role of developments on host labour markets and the importance of an open-door policy. The Polish household survey data suggest that temporary emigrants are generally young, more frequently male than female, well educated but with less labour market experience, and have less family commitments than stayers. Other things equal, non-employed are twice that likely to emigrate as employed. The propensity to emigrate varies substantially among the employed. Farmers and employees employed on permanent contracts or in jobs with a high social prestige (managerial or specialist positions) are least probable to leave Poland. The highest propensity to emigrate is observed among temporarily employed or helping family members. The introduction of an open-door policy by majority of the European Economic Area countries after 2004 significantly facilitated emigration from Poland and increased the share of workers leaving to countries with the more liberal immigration regime. The open-door policy within the European Economic Areas amplifies responses of Polish workers to cyclical fluctuations in employment opportunities abroad. Similar changes in the unemployment rate (real wages) abroad lead to more pronounced reaction of temporary emigration or return migration flows, then before the European Union enlargement. |
| Keywords: | emigration, EU enlargement, open-door policy, labour market flexibility |
| JEL: | C34 C35 J61 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbp:nbpmis:90&r=mig |
| By: | Hazans, Mihails (University of Latvia) |
| Abstract: | The European Social Survey data are used to analyze informal employment at the main job in 30 countries. Overall, informality decreases from South to West to East to North. However, dependent work without contract is more prevalent in Eastern Europe than in the West, except for Ireland, the UK and Austria. Between 2004 and 2009, no cases found when unemployment and dependent informality rates in a country went up together, suggesting that work without contract is pro-cyclical in Europe. Dependent informality rate is inversely related to skills (measured by either schooling or occupation). The low-educated, the young (especially students), the elderly, and persons with disabilities are more likely to work informally, other things equal. In Southern and Western Europe, immigrants from CEE and FSU feature the highest dependent informality rate, whilst in Eastern Europe this group is second after minorities without immigrant background. In Eastern, Southern and part of Western Europe, immigrants not covered by EU free mobility provisions are more likely to work without contracts than otherwise similar natives. We provide evidence that exclusion and discrimination play important role in pushing employees into informality, whilst this seems not to be the case for informal self-employed. Both on average and after controlling for a rich set of individual characteristics, informal employees in all parts of Europe are having the largest financial difficulties among all categories of employed population (yet they fare much better than the unemployed and discouraged), whilst informal self-employed are at least as well off as formal employees. |
| Keywords: | informal employment, human capital, discrimination, minorities, immigrants |
| JEL: | J21 J24 J61 J71 O17 O52 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5871&r=mig |
| By: | Hazans, Mihails (University of Latvia) |
| Abstract: | European Social Survey data on 30 countries, covering years 2004-2009, are used to look into joint institutional [and other macro] determinants of the rates of dependent employment without a contract, informal self-employment, and unemployment (secondary jobs are not accounted for). Consistently with theoretical predictions, quality of business environment has a significant negative impact on prevalence of both types of informal employment. The share of non-contracted employees is negatively affected by perceived quality of public services and is positively related to economic growth. GDP per capita has a positive impact on informality in Europe at large and within Eastern and Southern Europe. Other things equal, the share of non-contracted employees in the labor force across all European countries increases with the minimum-to-average wage ratio, with union density, with the share of first and second generation immigrants, and with income inequality, but falls with stricter employment protection legislation (EPL) and higher tax wedge on labor. Thus it appears that in Europe at large, labor cost effects of EPL and taxes are weaker than their impact via perceptions of job security and law enforcement, along with tax morale and the income effect. Yet the EPL effect on informality is positive (i.e., cost-related) when either Eastern and Southern Europe or Western and Northern Europe are considered separately. Furthermore, within Western and Northern Europe, the minimum wage effect is negative, whilst within Eastern and Southern Europe, the union effect is negative. Various panel data methods are used to confirm the robustness of the results. |
| Keywords: | labor market institutions, informal employment, immigrants, ethnic minorities |
| JEL: | J08 J21 J51 J61 K31 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5872&r=mig |
| By: | Hazans, Mihails (University of Latvia); Philips, Kaia (University of Tartu) |
| Abstract: | We use Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian LFS data (2002-2007) complemented with several other surveys to compare the profile of Baltic temporary workers abroad before and after EU accession with that of stayers and return migrants. Determinants of migration and return, as well as selection issues are discussed. Post-enlargement migrants from all three countries were significantly less educated than stayers. After accession, medium-educated workers were most likely to move, other things equal, and human capital became increasingly less pro-migration over time. Return migrants differ from all movers in many ways and, in particular, are more educated. Although brain drain was not a feature of post-accession Baltic migration, brain waste was: during 2006-2007, the proportion of overqualified among high-educated movers ranged from five out of ten for Latvia to seven out of ten for Lithuania, but it was around one fifth among high-educated stayers in all three countries. We find that the free movement of labor partially introduced in 2004 (and expanded in 2006) for EU citizens, although excluding Baltic non-citizens, brought about significant changes in how ethnicity and citizenship affect workers' mobility. We conclude by discussing migration perspectives in the context of recession. |
| Keywords: | return migrants, Baltic countries, EU enlargement, migration, ethnic minorities |
| JEL: | J61 J15 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5878&r=mig |
| By: | Olivier Joseph (CEREQ - Centre d'études et de recherches sur les qualifications - Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche - ministère de l'Emploi, cohésion sociale et logement); Séverine Lemière (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I, IUT Paris Descartes - IUT Paris Descartes); Laurence Lizé (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I); Patrick Rousset (CEREQ - Centre d'études et de recherches sur les qualifications - Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche - ministère de l'Emploi, cohésion sociale et logement) |
| 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. |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00611925&r=mig |