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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Patrick Bayer; Robert McMillan |
| Abstract: | Tiebout’s classic 1956 paper has strong implications regarding stratification across and within jurisdictions, predicting in the simplest instance a hierarchy of internally homogeneous communities ordered by income. Typically, urban areas are less than fully stratified, and the question arises how much departures from standard Tiebout assumptions contribute to observed within-neighborhood mixing. This paper quantifies the separate effects on neighborhood stratification of employment geography (via costly commuting) and preferences for housing attributes. It does so using an equilibrium sorting model, estimated with rich Census micro-data. Simulations based on the model using credible preference estimates show that counterfactual reductions in commuting costs lead to marked increases in racial and education segregation and, to a lesser degree, increases in income segregation, given that households now find it easier to locate in neighborhoods with like households. While turning off preferences for housing characteristics increases racial segregation, especially for blacks, doing so reduces income segregation, indicating that heterogeneity in the housing stock serves to stratify households based on ability-to-pay. Further, we show that differences in housing also help accentuate differences in the consumption of local amenities. |
| JEL: | H41 I20 R21 |
| Date: | 2011–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17364&r=mig |
| By: | Gilles Grenier (Department of Economics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON); Serge Nadeau (Department of Economics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON) |
| Abstract: | With data from the 2006 Canadian census, we investigate the determinants and the economic values of different languages used at work in the Montreal metropolitan area. The working population is divided into three mother tongues groups: French, English and Others. Three indicators are defined: use of French at work as a second language, and use of an official language at work as opposed to an non-official language. One interesting result is that there is no relationship between schooling and the use of French at work for the English mother tongue group, while schooling is positively related to the use of English at work for the French mothe tongue group and to the use of an offical language at work for the Other mother tongues group. We look at the returns to using a second language at work by means of earnings regressions (with both OLS and IV to account for the endogeneity of the language of work). We find that for the English mother tongue group, using French at work does not pay. In contract, there is a high payoff to using English at work for the French Mother tongue group. For the Other mother tongues group, there is a high payoff to using an official language at work and a modest one to using English instead of French. |
| Keywords: | language of work, mother tongue, immigrants, Montreal, earnings |
| JEL: | J20 J24 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ott:wpaper:1107e&r=mig |
| By: | Kuschminder, Katie (Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, Maastricht University); Hercog, Metka (Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | Migrant-sending countries are increasingly exploring schemes where human capital of expatriates can be used for the benefit of the home country's socioeconomic development. This paper focuses on the mechanisms of emigration management and problematizes the government involvement in diaspora engagement. By exploring the two cases of diaspora engagement policies, namely, that of India and Ethiopia, the paper questions the success of government mechanisms, establishing the conditions under which these mechanisms lead to political and economic benefit from the diaspora. Although countries differ immensely in various aspects, Ethiopia modeled its diaspora policy after the case of India, which provides us with a good case for establishing the necessary conditions. Both countries see diaspora as a key resource in economic development of respective countries and have therefore invested significant resources into developing institutions and policies to engage diaspora. Nevertheless, there are some major differences between the countries, in terms of the countries' resources and capacities to design and implement diaspora engagement policies and also in the composition of migrant communities. While Indian migration has always had an economic component, the Ethiopian Diaspora is primarily characterized by refugee flows. Moreover, India has a long history of migration and one of the largest migrant communities in the world. The paper argues that government resources and capacities to design and implement policies and the composition of migrant communities play a key role in determining the approach governments adopt with their diasporas. |
| Keywords: | diaspora, migration, diaspora engagement policy, diaspora engagement, institutions, India, Ethiopia |
| JEL: | J61 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2011044&r=mig |
| By: | Tomoki Fujii (School of Economics, Singapore Management University) |
| Abstract: | The remittances have emerged as one of the most important sources of international flows. In the Philipines, the amount of remittance receipts has more than doubled over a decade since early 1900s. As a result, the way remittances are used has become extremely important for economic development. Unlike the previous studies, we allow for the potential heterogeneity in the impact of remittances across various relationships to the head of household and take into account the potential negative effects of being guarded by someone other than the parents We find that the impact of remittances on schooling is generally positive and the negative impact is outweighed by the positive impact of remittance flows. |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:siu:wpaper:05-2011&r=mig |
| By: | Wharton, Kate (Georgia Institute of Technology); Uwaifo Oyelere, Ruth (Georgia Tech) |
| Abstract: | Forty years of low-intensity internal armed conflict has made Colombia home to the world's second largest population of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The effect of being directly impacted by conflict on a child's educational accumulation and enrollment is of particular concern because of the critical role that education plays in increasing human capital and productivity. This paper explores the educational accumulation and enrollment gap created by being directly affected by conflict. First, we show that children living in municipality with high conflict have a gap in education enrollment and accumulation. However, this gap is much smaller than the attainment and enrollment gap for those directly affected by the conflict (IDPs). We estimate the education accumulation and enrollment gaps for IDPs in comparison to non-migrants and other migrants respectively. Our results suggest significant education accumulation and enrollment gaps for children of IDPs that widens to over half a year in secondary school. The disparity in effects when we focus on direct exposure to conflict versus living in a municipality with conflict suggests a need to be careful when using the latter to estimate the impact of conflict. |
| Keywords: | educational attainment, school enrollment, Colombia, internal displacement, conflict |
| JEL: | O12 O15 J10 |
| Date: | 2011–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5939&r=mig |
| By: | Valentina Calderón; Margarita Gáfaro; Ana María Ibáñez |
| Abstract: | Civilian displacement is a common phenomenon in developing countries confronted with internal conflict. While displacement directly affects forced migrants, it also contributes to deteriorating labor conditions of vulnerable groups in receiving communities. For the displaced population, the income losses are substantial, and as they migrate to cities, they usually end up joining the informal labor force. Qualitative evidence reveals that displaced women are better suited to compete in urban labor markets, as their labor experience is more relevant with respect to certain urban low-skilled occupations. Our study uses this exogenous change in female labor force participation to test how it affects female bargaining power within the household. Our results show that female displaced women work longer hours, earn similar wages and contribute in larger proportions to household earnings relative to rural women who remain in rural areas. However, as measured by several indicators, their greater contribution to households’ earnings does not strengthen their bargaining power. Most notably, domestic violence have increased among displaced women. The anger and frustration of displaced women also increases the level of violence directed at children. Because the children of displaced families have been the direct victims of conflict and domestic violence, the intra-generational transmission of violence is highly likely. |
| Date: | 2011–07–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:008912&r=mig |
| By: | Drabo, Alassane (CERDI, University of Auvergne); Mbaye, Linguère Mously (CERDI, University of Auvergne) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to assess the relationship between natural disasters caused by climate change and migration by interesting in the migration rates and the education level in developing countries. Many studies such as the Stern review (2007) or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) predict an intensification of climate change for the following years. Thus, climate change has taken an essential place in the world governance. The relationship between climate change, natural disasters and migration is crucial because the management of supplementary migratory flows due to environmental degradation make the migration issues coming from developing countries more complicated for developed countries. We investigate this relationship by using panel data from developing countries in order to see the effect of the natural disasters on migration rates and according to the educational level. Estimations are made with country fixed effects estimator through an accurate econometric model. The results confirm previous studies, namely natural disasters are positively associated with emigration rates. But beyond this result, the main contribution of this paper is to show that natural disasters due to climate change exacerbate brain drain in developing countries by involving the migration of high skilled people when countries are the most vulnerable and need an important support from the skilled workers to deal with natural disasters damages. The paper also shows that this effect is different according to the geographical position. |
| Keywords: | climate change, natural disasters, migration |
| JEL: | O15 Q54 |
| Date: | 2011–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5927&r=mig |
| By: | Harry P. Bowen (McColl School of Business, Queens University of Charlotte); Jennifer Pedussel Wu (Berlin School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Studies routinely document that the nature of immigrant employment is largely specific: it often concentrates in non-traded goods sectors and many immigrants often have low inter-sectoral mobility. We consider these observed characteristics of immigrant employment for the question of how immigration affects a nation’s pattern of production and trade. We model an economy producing three goods; one is non-traded. Domestic labor and capital are domestically mobile but internationally immobile. Any new wave of immigration is assumed to comprise some workers who become specific to the non-traded goods sector. The model indicates that the output and trade effects of immigration depend importantly on the sectoral pattern of employment by existing and new immigrants. Empirical investigation of the model’s prediction for the relationship between immigration and trade flows in a panel dataset of OECD countries supports the prediction that trade and immigration are complements. The implications of the model and empirical findings for immigration policy are then discussed. |
| Keywords: | immigration, international factor mobility, specific factor, trade, non-traded goods |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:msb:wpaper:2011-01&r=mig |
| By: | Friebel, Guido (Goethe University Frankfurt); Gallego, Juan Miguel (University of Toulouse I); Mendola, Mariapia (University of Milan Bicocca) |
| Abstract: | We investigate how emigration flows from a developing region are affected by xenophobic violence at destination. Our empirical analysis is based on a unique survey among more than 1000 households, collected in Mozambique in summer 2008, a few months after a series of xenophobic attacks in South Africa killed dozens and displaced thousands of immigrants from neighbouring countries. We estimate migration intentions of Mozambicans before and after the attacks, controlling for the characteristics of households and previous migration behaviour. Using a placebo period, we show that other things equal, the migration intention of household heads decreases from 37% to 33%. The sensitivity of migration intentions to violence is larger for household heads with many children younger than 15 years, decreasing the migration intention by 11% points. Most importantly, the sensitivity of migration intentions is highest for those household heads with many young children whose families have no access to social networks. For these household heads, the intention falls by 15% points. Social networks provide insurance against the consequences young children suffer in case the household head would be harmed by xenophobic violence and consequently could not provide for the family. |
| Keywords: | household behaviour, risk, violence, Mozambique |
| JEL: | O1 R2 J6 D1 |
| Date: | 2011–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5920&r=mig |