nep-mig New Economics Papers
on Economics of Human Migration
Issue of 2012‒06‒13
five papers chosen by
Yuji Tamura
Australian National University

  1. Fiscal Revenues and Commitment in Immigration Amnesties By Francesco Magris; Giuseppe Russo
  2. Do migrant girls always perform better? Differences between the reading and math scores of 15-year-old daughters and sons of migrants in PISA 2009 and variations by region of origin and country of destination By Kornder Nils; Dronkers Jaap
  3. Networks and selection in international migration to Spain By Neubecker, Nina; Smolka, Marcel; Steinbacher, Anne
  4. A Global View of Cross-Border Migration By Julian di Giovanni; Andrei Levchenko; Francesc Ortega
  5. International Migration and Development: A review in light of the crisis By Jose Antonio Alonso

  1. By: Francesco Magris (Université François Rabelais); Giuseppe Russo (Università di Salerno and CSEF)
    Abstract: Reasons to grant immigration amnesties include the intention to reduce the weight of the informal sector and the attempt to identify employers of undocumented workers. However, it is incontestable that potential fiscal gains are important: tax revenues are crucial in all kinds of amnesties. Nevertheless, over the last 30 years 24% of applications have been rejected. It is still unexplained why governments accept this loss of fiscal base. We argue that applying for amnesty is basically selfincrimination, and that immigration-averse governments have an incentive to exploit the applications to identify and expel illegal workers. In our Nash equilibrium only applicants with the highest income are granted amnesty, and the poorest immigrants do not apply. In addition, it is not possible to establish a reputation because the players are different every time the game is repeated. Thus, fiscal revenues are sub-optimal and amnesties are an inefficient way to make illegal workers come forward.
    Keywords: Amnesty, illegal immigration, time consistency, incentive compatibility
    JEL: J61 J68 H59
    Date: 2012–05–28
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:315&r=mig
  2. By: Kornder Nils; Dronkers Jaap (ROA rm)
    Abstract: As a follow-up of earlier analyses of the educational performance of all pupils with amigration background with Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)waves 2003 and 2006, we analyze the differences between the educational performanceof 15-year old daughters and sons of migrants from specific regions of origin countriesliving in different destination countries. We use the newest PISA 2009 wave. Instead ofanalyzing only Western countries as destination countries, we analyze the educationalperformance of 16,612 daughters and 16,804 sons of migrants in destinationcountries across Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Oceania. We distinguish 62 origincountries and 12 origin areas in 30 destination countries. We test three hypotheses:1) The daughters of migrants from poorer, more traditional regions perform much betterin reading than comparable sons of migrants from the same origin regions, while thedaughters of migrants from more affluent and liberal regions perform slightly betterin reading than comparable sons of migrants from the same regions. 2) Individualsocioeconomic background has a stronger effect on the educational performance ofdaughters of migrants than on the performance of sons of migrants. 3) The performanceof female native pupils has a higher influence on the performance of migrant daughtersthan the performance of male native pupils has on the performance of migrant sons.The first hypothesis can only partly be accepted. Female migrant pupils have bothhigher reading and math scores than comparable male migrant pupils, and these genderdifferences among migrant pupils are larger than among comparable native pupils. Theadditional variation in educational performance by region of origin is, however, notclearly related to the poverty or traditionalism of regions. Neither the second nor thethird hypothesis can be accepted, given our results.
    Keywords: labour market entry and occupational careers;
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umaror:2012004&r=mig
  3. By: Neubecker, Nina; Smolka, Marcel; Steinbacher, Anne
    Abstract: This paper analyzes the role of ethnic communities in shaping the recent immigration boom to Spain. We find that ethnic communities exerted a strong positive effect on the scale and a strong negative effect on the skill structure of this immigration. Unlike previous studies, we explicitly acknowledge similarities among final migration destinations and thus partly relax the independence of irrelevant alternatives assumption. We strengthen our causal interpretation by controlling for observed and unobserved heterogeneity in bilateral migration costs, and by adopting an instrumental variables approach. Our results suggest that previous estimates of the scale effect are upward-biased by approximately 50%. --
    Keywords: International migration,Ethnic networks,Family and friends effect,Skill structure of migration,Spain
    JEL: F22
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:tuewef:35&r=mig
  4. By: Julian di Giovanni (International Monetary Fund and University of Toronto); Andrei Levchenko (University of Michigan and NBER); Francesc Ortega (Queens College - CUNY)
    Abstract: This paper evaluates the welfare impact of observed levels of migration and remittances in both origins and destinations, using a quantitative multi- sector model of the global economy calibrated to aggregate and firm-level data on 60 developed and developing countries. Our framework accounts jointly for origin and destination characteristics, as well as the inherently multi-country nature of both migration and other forms of integration, such as international trade and remittance flows. In the presence of firm heterogeneity and imperfect competition larger countries enjoy a greater number of varieties and thus higher welfare, all else equal. Because of this effect, natives in countries that received a lot of migration – such as Canada or Australia – are better off. The remaining natives in countries with large emigration flows – such as Jamaica or El Salvador – are also better off due to migration, but for a different reason: remittances. The quantitative results show that the welfare impact of observed levels of migration is substantial, at about 5 to 10% for the main receiving countries and about 10% for the main sending countries.
    Keywords: Migration, Remittances, International Trade, Welfare
    JEL: F12 F15 F22 F24
    Date: 2012–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1218&r=mig
  5. By: Jose Antonio Alonso
    Abstract: Increasing international migratory flows in the last four decades is one of the most visible manifestations of the globalization process. In spite of its potential positive effect on global efficiency and well-being, little progress has been made in designing and promoting a normative and institutional framework to allow a better global governance of international migration. The current crisis has added new concerns in relation to migrant situation particularly in the countries more affected by the recession. It is likely that migratory pressures continue beyond the crisis, as international asymmetries that promote international migration have not been overcome.
    Keywords: international migration, labour markets, mobility of labour, development, migrants?remittances, human capital, brain drain, immigration policy
    JEL: F22 F24 J61 J83 K31 O15
    Date: 2011–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:une:cpaper:011&r=mig

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