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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Chen, Joyce J.; Hassan, Nazmul |
| Abstract: | Economists’ understanding of the effects of migration has been largely limited to what can be gleaned from separate surveys of migrants and their origin households. This is problematic when the interaction between the two parties affects patterns of resource allocation, above and beyond the direct effects of migration in income and household composition. Using a unique panel dataset from Bangladesh that includes linked data on migrants and origin households, we assess the cost of information asymmetries that arise with migration. Variation in migrant travel times is used to generate variation in the cost of communication between migrants and origin households. However, because migration, as well as the destination, may be chosen with information asymmetries in mind, two sets of instrumental variables are employed: lagged employment shocks at potential destinations and historical migrant networks. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124997&r=mig |
| By: | Antman, Francisca M. (University of Colorado, Boulder) |
| Abstract: | Estimation of the causal effect of parental migration on children's educational attainment is complicated by the fact that migrants and non-migrants are likely to differ in unobservable ways that also affect children's educational outcomes. This paper suggests a novel way of addressing this selection problem by looking within the family to exploit variation in siblings' ages at the time of parental migration. The basic assumption underlying the analysis is that parental migration will have no effect on the educational outcomes of children who are at least 20 because they have already completed their educations. Their younger siblings, in contrast, may still be in school, and thus will be affected by the parental migration experience. The results point to a statistically significant positive effect of paternal U.S. migration on education for girls, suggesting that pushing a father's U.S. migration earlier in his daughter's life can lead to an increase in her educational attainment of up to 1 year relative to delaying migration until after she has turned 20. In contrast, paternal domestic migration has no statistically significant effect on educational attainment for girls or boys, suggesting that father absence does not play a major role in determining children's educational outcomes. Instead, these results suggest that the marginal dollars from U.S. migrant remittances appear to enable families to further educate their daughters. Thus, policymakers should view international migration as a potential pathway by which families raise educational attainments of girls in particular. |
| Keywords: | migration, father absence, education, gender |
| JEL: | O15 J12 J13 J16 J24 F22 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6640&r=mig |
| By: | Naujoks, Daniel |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that the availability of dual citizenship, or here Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI), leads to higher naturalization rates in the country of residence. The analysis is based on three distinct naturalization rates, calculated on the basis of annual immigration flows and naturalizations seven years later; the resident population eligible for naturalization; and naturalization records for specific immigrant cohorts. To isolate effects specific to India as the country of origin from general factors in the U.S., the development of naturalization rates for Indian, or India-born, immigrants is juxtaposed with the respective rates for all Asian immigrants to the U.S. and for all immigrants to the U.S. as comparison groups. Contextualizing the naturalization decision, considering factors in the country of origin, destination, as well as in the migrant community alike, the paper finds that, depending on the metric used, the naturalization rate of Indian immigrants grew stronger than that of the chosen comparison groups by 2 to 12.8 percentage points. -- |
| Keywords: | dual citizenship,naturalization,nationality,migration,emigrant citizenship,overseas citizenship of India,diaspora,political incorporation |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:hwwirp:125&r=mig |
| By: | Jason Gagnon; David Khoudour-Castéras |
| Abstract: | Although South-South migrants face much of the same discrimination and integration challenges as their South-North counterparts, South-South flows need to be analysed from a different standpoint. An investigation of immigrant experience in West Africa, with particular focus on Ghana, shows that despite the prevalence of intra-regional migration, most governments neglect integration issues, generating costs not only for immigrants and their families, but also for host communities. Against this background, the standard models of integration used in the North – assimilation and multiculturalism – are not necessarily applicable. On the one hand, borders are generally more porous and immigration controls more lax, so that assimilation models are not well adapted as many migrants do not stay long enough to adopt local customs. On the other, national linguistic, cultural and ethnic diversity tends to be higher in West Africa, so basing immigration integration on multicultural premise may have little impact. Integration policies in the South should take into account these differences and focus on the protection of migrant rights, while also fighting discrimination and fostering the incorporation of immigrants into society.<BR>Bien que les migrants Sud-Sud doivent faire face aux mêmes problèmes de discrimination et d’intégration que les migrants Sud-Nord, les flux Sud-Sud doivent être abordés sous un angle différent. Une étude approfondie de l’expérience migratoire en Afrique de l’Ouest, notamment au Ghana, montre qu’en dépit d’une prévalence des flux intra-régionaux, la plupart des gouvernements négligent la question de l’intégration, générant des coûts non seulement pour les immigrés et leurs familles, mais aussi pour les communautés d’accueil. Dans ce contexte, les modèles d’intégration – assimilation et multiculturalisme – utilisés dans le Nord ne s’appliquent pas forcément dans le Sud. D’une part, les frontières y sont généralement plus poreuses et les contrôles migratoires plus laxistes, ce qui rend les modèles d’assimilation inadaptés, la plupart des migrants ne restant pas suffisamment longtemps pour adopter les coutumes locales. D’autre part, il existe souvent une plus grande diversité linguistique, culturelle et ethnique en Afrique de l’Ouest, réduisant ainsi la portée du modèle multiculturel. Les problèmes de cohésion sociale qui en résultent sont renforcés par l’arrivée massive de réfugiés et de migrants de transit. Les politiques d’intégration dans le Sud devraient tenir compte de ces différences et se concentrer sur la protection des droits des migrants, sans pour autant oublier la lutte contre les discriminations et l’incorporation des immigrés dans la société. |
| Keywords: | South-South migration, immigrant integration, West Africa, Migrations Sud-Sud, intégration des immigrés, Afrique de l’Ouest |
| JEL: | F22 J15 O15 O55 |
| Date: | 2012–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:devaaa:312-en&r=mig |
| By: | Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina (San Diego State University, California); Pozo, Susan (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: | Using a recent Spanish database, we show that remittances respond to cross country differences in portfolio values. This behavior suggests that immigrants are sophisticated economic optimizers who take advantage of opportunities to invest trans-nationally given the networks that immigrants are likely to have developed both in their host and home communities. The responsiveness to portfolio variables persists whether immigrants are highly or less highly educated. However, there are differences in the individual portfolio variables to which immigrants from various regions of the world respond to, as we would expect given migrants' diverse backgrounds and motives for emigrating. Additionally, remitting patterns change over time with the length of the migration spell, suggesting that remittances sent for portfolio motives become more likely as the immediate needs of family left back home are addressed and immigrants settle down in their host communities. |
| Keywords: | remittances, portfolio motives, Spain |
| JEL: | F24 F22 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6622&r=mig |
| By: | di Giovanni, Julian (International Monetary Fund); Levchenko, Andrei A. (University of Michigan); Ortega, Francesc (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:iza:izadps:dp6584&r=mig |
| By: | Akay, Alpaslan (IZA); Constant, Amelie F. (DIW DC, George Washington University); Giulietti, Corrado (IZA) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of immigration directly on the overall utility of natives. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to explore such nexus. Combining information from the German Socio-Economic Panel dataset with detailed local labour market characteristics for the period 1997 to 2007, we investigate how changes in the spatial concentration of immigrants affect the subjective well-being of the German-born population. Our results suggest the existence of a robust, positive effect of immigration on natives' well-being. The presence of confounding local labour market characteristics has a negligible impact on the estimates. Furthermore, we find substantial evidence that the effect of immigration on well-being is a function of the assimilation of immigrants in the region. The effect of immigration is higher in regions with an intermediate level of economic assimilation and is essentially zero in areas where immigrants are either least or fully economically integrated. We conduct robustness checks to address the potential endogeneity between subjective well-being and immigration. Our tests indicate that natives are not crowded out by immigrants, and that the sorting of immigrants to regions with higher SWB is weak. This suggests that our main findings are not driven or strongly influenced by reverse causality or selectivity. |
| Keywords: | immigration, subjective well-being, assimilation |
| JEL: | C90 J61 D63 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6630&r=mig |
| By: | Bratti, Massimiliano (University of Milan); De Benedictis, Luca (University of Macerata); Santoni, Gianluca (University of Rome Tor Vergata) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate the causal effect of immigration on trade flows, using Italian panel data covering very small geographical units (NUTS-3). Exploiting the very favorable setup offered by Italy's features – the very high number of countries of origin of immigrants ('super-diversity'), the high heterogeneity of social and economic characteristics of Italian provinces coupled with the absence of cultural (e.g. language) or historical (colonial ties) attractors for immigration –, controlling for a wide set of fixed effects, and dealing with the possible distortions generated by the inappropriate choice of the areal unit, we find a positive association between immigrants' stocks and both export and import flows, in line with the past literature. However, using instrumental variables based on migration enclaves, we show that immigrants have a positive and significant effect on imports only. |
| Keywords: | migration, trade, gravity model, super-diversity, MAUP, transplanted-home bias effect, business and social networks effects |
| JEL: | F10 F14 F22 R10 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6628&r=mig |
| By: | Xavier Chojnicki |
| Abstract: | The objective of this study is to use both static and dynamic frameworks to compare the benefits that immigrants draw from the public system with their contributions through the taxes that they pay. The main conclusion of this article is that the impact of immigration on welfare systems is weak. Thus, if we compare, on a given date, immigrants’ global contribution to the public administration budget with the volume of transfers they receive, immigrants appear to be relatively favored by the redistribution system. At the same time, even if immigrants seem to pay less taxes and receive more transfers than natives, the difference in distribution between the two populations, with a higher concentration of immigrants in the active age groups and a sparser concentration among the net beneficiaries of the social transfer system, leads to a slightly positive long-term impact of immigration on public finances. However, the impact of immigration remains very slight compared to the global effort that would have to be undertaken to reduce budgetary imbalances. |
| Keywords: | Fiscal policy, International migration, National budget |
| JEL: | E62 F22 H6 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cii:cepidt:2012-11&r=mig |
| By: | Akay, Alpaslan (IZA); Giulietti, Corrado (IZA); Robalino, Juan David (Imperial College London); Zimmermann, Klaus F. (IZA and University of Bonn) |
| Abstract: | The main objective of this paper is to propose a systematic approach to empirically analyse the effect of remittances on the utility of migrants, as proxied by their subjective well-being (SWB). Using data from a new survey on China (RUMiC), we estimate models in which a measure of subjective well- being is regressed on the level of remittances, and we find a sizeable positive correlation. The effect of remittances on well-being varies with the socio- economic characteristics of migrants, migration experience and the diversity of family arrangements. As a complementary objective, we use SWB measures to elicit the motivations behind remittances and find evidence that both altruistic (such as pure altruism and reciprocity) and contractual motivations (such as co-insurance and investment) are at work among rural-to-urban migrants in China. |
| Keywords: | migrants, subjective well-being, remittances |
| JEL: | J61 D63 D64 I3 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6631&r=mig |
| By: | Grossmann, Volker (University of Fribourg); Stadelmann, David (University of Fribourg) |
| Abstract: | This paper argues that international migration of high-skilled workers triggers productivity effects at the macro level such that the wage rate of skilled workers may rise in host countries and decline in source countries. We exploit a recent data set on international bilateral migration flows and provide evidence which is consistent with this hypothesis. We propose different instrumentation strategies to identify the causal effect of skilled migration on log differences of GDP per capita, total factor productivity, and wages of skilled workers between pairs of source and destination countries. These address the endogeneity problem which potentially arises when international wage differences affect migration decisions. |
| Keywords: | international high-skilled migration, wage effects, total factor productivity |
| JEL: | F22 O30 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6611&r=mig |
| By: | Akarca, Ali T. (University of Illinois at Chicago); Tansel, Aysit (Middle East Technical University) |
| Abstract: | Antalya and Muğla provinces located in southwestern Turkey have emerged as the new magnets for internal migration in the country. Characteristics of immigration from other provinces to these two are described, and analyzed in the context of the gravity model. The factors that affect the migration to Antalya and Muğla seem to be the same and their effects on the flows to each destination differ only slightly. Better job opportunities, especially in the hotel and restaurant services sector, appear as the main attraction fueling this migration. Surprisingly, the pleasant climates of the two provinces do not seem to matter. |
| Keywords: | Turkey, gravity model, internal migration, Antalya, Muğla |
| JEL: | J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6627&r=mig |
| By: | Mario Liebensteiner |
| Abstract: | In recent years, a new trend of seasonal labour migration from Armenia to Russia has emerged. Based on a novel household survey, this paper analyses how successful seasonal migrants are in increasing their incomes. Applying matching operators allows addressing endogenous self-selection to migration. We identify negative selection based on education, employment and pre-migration income. This is reflected by a premium for low skills in Russia relative to Armenia, luring seasonal migrants into low-skill jobs, mainly in the construction sector. The income gain for a migrant is estimated at $ 480 relative to the approximately $ 50 that the same individual would have earned in Armenia. The results are robust to various matching techniques and specifications. |
| Date: | 2012–06–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2012:i:430&r=mig |
| By: | André Barreira da Silva Rocha |
| Abstract: | I present a dynamic evolutionary game model to address the relation between nationalism against immigrants and assimilation of the latter into the host country culture. I assume a country composed of two different large polymorphic populations, one of native citizens and the other of immigrants. A native citizen may behave nationalistically or may welcome immigrants. Immigrants may have an interest in learning the host country language or not. Evolution is modelled using replicator dynamics (RD). I also account for the presence of an enclave of immigrants in the host country. In the RD, the latter represents the immigrants' own population effect, which contribution to fitness is controlled using a parameter p, 0 < p < 1, that represents the enclave size. In line with the empirical literature on imigration, the existence of an enclave of immigrants makes assimilation less likely to occur. For large values of p, complete assimilation may not occur even if immigrants and natives share very close cultures and norms. Government policy regarding nationalism is modelled both exogenously and endogenously. A single or multiple asymptotically stable states exist for all cases studied but one in which the dynamics is similar to that found in the predator-prey model of Lotka-Volterra for competing species. |
| Keywords: | Econophysics; replicator dynamics; migration, nationalism; enclave. |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lec:leecon:12/11&r=mig |
| By: | Grossmann, Volker (University of Fribourg); Stadelmann, David (University of Fribourg) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the interaction between migration of high-skilled labor and publicly financed investment. We develop a theoretical model with multiple, ex ante identical jurisdictions where individuals decide on education and subsequent emigration. Migration decisions are based on differences in net income across jurisdictions which may occur endogenously. The interaction between income differences and migration flows gives rise to the potential of multiple equilibria: a symmetric equilibrium without migration and an asymmetric equilibrium in which net income levels differ among jurisdictions and trigger migration flows. In the former equilibrium, all jurisdictions have the same public investment level. In the latter one, public investment is high in host economies of skilled expatriates and low in source economies. We empirically test the hypothesis that emigration rates are negatively associated with publicly financed investment levels for OECD countries. |
| Keywords: | high-skilled migration, human capital externalities, publicly financed investment |
| JEL: | F22 H40 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6610&r=mig |
| By: | Rong, Zhao; Yang, Liu; Yuan, Yan |
| Abstract: | Cross-sectional analysis is problematic when examining the determinants of migration as well as its impacts. Panel data may potentially solve the problem by tracking households over different time periods. Using panel data from household surveys in six provinces in rural China over 1986 to 1999, this paper examines the determinants of rural-to-urban migration and its impacts on rural households. We find that number of laborers, income, education level and village migrating network increase the likelihood of migration for households with no migration experience as well as households with experience. By estimating the dynamic difference on migration impacts, at the household level we find that grain output declines by less than 2 percent while net income increases by 16 percent upon migration. |
| Keywords: | internal migration, grain output, labor migration, rural China, Consumer/Household Economics, Labor and Human Capital, O15, J61, Q12, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124842&r=mig |
| By: | Chan, Gavin (Macquarie University, Sydney); Heaton, Christopher (Macquarie University, Sydney); Tani, Massimiliano (Macquarie University, Sydney) |
| Abstract: | We study whether Australian employers recognise immigrants' education acquired abroad, and if so how. Using data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Immigrants in Australia, we apply interval regression to model migrant hourly earnings. We find substantially higher returns from human capital obtained in Australia and other OECD countries compared with non-OECD countries. These results suggest that the transfer of human capital acquired abroad is mediated by the country in which it was acquired, as found for Israel (Friedberg (2000) and the US (Bratsberg and Ragan (2002)). The results also suggest that immigrants from non-OECD countries are the ones who can gain the most from obtaining further education in Australia, and that targeted rather than generic policies in this area could reduce the extent of the education-occupation mismatch amongst immigrants. |
| Keywords: | immigration, education, economic assimilation |
| JEL: | C34 J24 J61 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6578&r=mig |
| By: | Huynh Truong, Huy; Walter, Nonneman |
| Abstract: | This paper adopts the push and pull model of migration to explain inter-provincial migration flows across 63 provinces or cities of Vietnam in the period 2004-2009. We used a solution to a quadratic cost migration problem by combining the total number of in and out-migration of various provinces and inverse distances between provinces that aims at calculating the push and pull factors of each province. The result confirms the hypothesis that push factors correlate well with total out flows of provinces and pull factors with total inflows of provinces. In addition, it is found that pull and push factors are explained rather well by population size and income, but not so by urbanization and poverty |
| Keywords: | push factors; pull factors; migration; distance |
| JEL: | C00 J00 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:39559&r=mig |
| By: | Manivong, Vongpaphane; Cramb, Rob A.; Newby, Jonathon C. |
| Abstract: | Despite being a low‐income, agriculture‐based country with a subsistence‐orientation, Laos is in the early stages of a major economic transformation whereby rural households have been experiencing rapid change in their farming and livelihood systems. Some households have engaged in what the World Bank classifies as market‐oriented farming while other households have adopted labour‐oriented or migration‐oriented livelihood strategies. This paper explores how rural households in six villages in the lowlands of Champasak Province in southern Laos make a living. These villages vary in their access to irrigation and to markets. Nevertheless, in all villages, long‐term migration of younger household members to neighbouring Thailand has come to play a large role in household livelihood strategies. In some cases this is necessary to meet the household’s consumption requirements; in others, it is part of a diversified strategy in which rice farming still plays a significant role, whether for subsistence or the market. The paper examines some of the issues involved in pursuing intensive, market‐oriented rice farming in a context of an emerging on‐farm labour shortage combined with an increasing flow of remittances from migrant family members. |
| Keywords: | migration, remittances, rice intensification, livelihood strategy, rural poverty, Laos, Labor and Human Capital, |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare12:124337&r=mig |
| By: | Ghimire, Ramesh; Ferreira, Susana; Dorfman, Jeffrey H. |
| Abstract: | We analyze the link between large and destructive floods and armed conflict in 117 countries between 1985 and 2009 employing flood-induced migration as a potential transmission channel. We use rainfall as an instrument for flood-induced migration and employ a two step procedure (Rivers and Vuong 1988) to estimate the model. We find that floods are likely to increase the risk of armed conflict through the channel of migration. |
| Keywords: | Labor and Human Capital, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124655&r=mig |
| By: | Martins, Pedro S. (Queen Mary, University of London); Piracha, Matloob (University of Kent); Varejão, José (University of Porto) |
| Abstract: | Using matched employer-employee data, we analyse the impact of immigrants on natives' employment in Portugal. Using different model specifications, we show that the natives and immigrants are 'complements' at most occupation levels, in the sense that they are jointly hired and fired. Controlling for different skill-level groups as well as for temporary and permanent jobs, the estimates show that, contrary to the evidence from some existing literature, the natives at the lower end of the skills spectrum are not affected by the presence of immigrants as well. |
| Keywords: | matched employer-employee data, displacement, immigrants |
| JEL: | J15 J61 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6644&r=mig |
| By: | Bohn, Sarah (Public Policy Institute of California); Lofstrom, Magnus (Public Policy Institute of California) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the impact of the 2007 Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA) on employment outcomes of low-skilled Arizona workers, with a focus on the states' unauthorized population. The intent of LAWA was to limit unauthorized workers' economic opportunities as a way to deter further illegal immigration and as such is likely to increase poverty among an already marginalized population. Specifically, we assess whether the legislation reduced the formal employment opportunities of the targeted population. We also look for evidence of an unintended consequence of the policy: whether LAWA pushed workers into informal employment, and if so what are the likely consequences for these workers and their families. Using the synthetic control method developed by Abadie, Diamond and Hainmueller (2010), we find no statistically significant pre-post LAWA differences in wage and salary employment rate for the vast majority of workers in Arizona. Only among the workers most likely to be unauthorized – non-citizen Hispanic men with at most a high school education – do we observe a statistically significant relative decline in the probability of wage and salary employment. We also identify a substantial and statistically significant relative increase in the rate of self-employment among the same group of likely unauthorized workers, and not among other groups. Our data suggests that this shift is likely associated with an increase in poverty among unauthorized immigrants. |
| Keywords: | illegal, unauthorized, undocumented, immigration, Hispanic, Arizona |
| JEL: | J8 J11 J15 J18 J48 J61 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6598&r=mig |
| By: | Javier Vázquez-Grenno (Universitat de Barcelona & IEB) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses Spanish Labor Force Survey data for the period 2005 to 2010 to examine the use of job search methods and the intensity of the job search strategies of unemployed natives and immigrants. We focus on the determinants of the job search methods and search effort. Additionally, we examine the impact of the methods selected and of the search intensity on the job-finding probabilities of native and immigrant groups in a period that covers the transition from economic growth to crisis. Our findings suggest that, irrespective of the job search methods adopted, the probability of employment is higher among immigrants than it is among natives. However, this gap is closed following the onset of the current crisis in 2008. We find that most job search methods have a positive impact on the probability of finding a job, with the exception of registration at a public employment office. Search effort (measured as the number of methods adopted) seems to matter in finding work. |
| Keywords: | Job search methods, search intensity, unemployment, employment, immigration |
| JEL: | J15 J61 J64 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:2012/6/doc2012-19&r=mig |
| By: | Garduno-Rivera, Rafael; Baylis, Katherine R. |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) affected income distribution within Mexico given internal migration. In low-skilled labor-abundant developing countries, trade liberalization should theoretically increase the income of low-skilled workers, decreasing income disparity. However, anecdotal evidence indicates that NAFTA increased the gap between rich and poor in Mexico, and empirical evidence is mixed (Chiquiar, 2005; Nicita, 2009; Hanson, 2007). Because trade may affect wages differently across regions within the country, accurate measures of wage effects must incorporate intra-national migration. We specifically consider rural to urban migration and find that working age men with low incomes get a boost from the NAFTA in their wages while NAFTA has a negative effect for those with high incomes. There is a slight increase in migration in the years after NAFTA. We also find that, workers far away from the US-Mexico border earn significantly lower wages in comparison to their counterparts in the border. But this effect diminishes after NAFTA, when tariffs decrease. As a result, we find that in urban areas, trade liberalization has reduced income inequalities among working age men. |
| Keywords: | Income Distribution, Regional Disparities, Trade Liberalization, Internal-Migration, International Relations/Trade, Labor and Human Capital, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124740&r=mig |
| By: | Beyene, Berhe Mekonnen (Dept. of Economics, University of Oslo) |
| Abstract: | The paper studies the link between international remittances and interhousehold transfers. Using a simple insurance model, it is shown that households transfer a large fraction of the remittance they receive from relatives abroad to other households. The effect of remittances on interhousehold transfers is empirically investigated using an urban household survey from Ethiopia. Consistent with the prediction of the model, remittance has a strong positive effect on the amount of transfer given, controlling for total household income and other covariates. |
| Keywords: | international remittances; interhousehold transfers; mutual insurance; Ethiopia |
| JEL: | D19 F24 I30 R20 |
| Date: | 2012–03–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:osloec:2012_014&r=mig |
| By: | Fan, Qin; Klaiber, H. Allen; Fisher-Vanden, Karen |
| Abstract: | This paper employs a two-stage residential sorting model to examine climate change impacts on residential location choices in the US. The estimated coefficients are used to simulate population changes and US migration patterns across regions under hypothetical changes in climate. The main dataset used for estimation is the Integrated Public Use Microdata Sample (IPUMS), which provides demographic characteristics of approximately 2.4 million households located in 283 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) of the US in the year 2000. Projected climate data (i.e. extreme temperatures) used for simulation are obtained from the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP). In the estimation component, a two-stage random utility sorting model (RUM) is employed. The first-stage discrete choice model employs a multinomial logit specification to recover heterogeneous parameters associated with MSA specific variables, migration costs, along with the mean indirect utility of each MSA. In particular, the interaction terms of temperature extremes and individual-specific characteristics, such as one’s birth region, age and educational attainment, are used to recover valuations of temperature extremes for different classes of people with potentially different preferences. The second stage of this model decomposes the mean indirect utility obtained from the first stage into its MSA-specific attributes controlling for unobservables using region fixed effects. Migration costs are statistically significant. If migration costs are high, individuals are less likely to relocate for the sake of moderate changes in weather extremes. In the simulation component, the estimated coefficients are used to simulate population changes across regions in the US under hypothetical changes in extreme temperatures. We find that extreme temperature and extreme precipitation reduce utility, and people’s preferences for temperature extremes are heterogeneous. The climate of one’s place of birth and demographic characteristics such as age and educational attainment, are significant factors that lead to preference heterogeneity. In addition, we find that population share in the Southern region and California drop, while population share in Northeastern region increases under hypothetical changes in climate. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, Extremes, Tiebout Sorting, Locational Equilibrium, Migration, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q51 and Q54, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124588&r=mig |
| By: | Karner, Anne M.; Dorfman, Jeffrey H. |
| Abstract: | After a lifetime of working and saving, retirement is a time that an individual can participate in aspirations and activities that were difficult to explore under the constraints of family rearing and full time employment. This newfound freedom allows one to act on her true preferences and alter her lifestyle. One such example is in location decisions. When examining the drivers of migration for retirees versus people still in the work force, one finds that the drivers for the two groups are not synonymous. For those in the labor force, the weight of locational attributes in decision making can be second best to employment opportunities. However, incomes of retirees are often invariant of their location decisions, and their migration decisions are decoupled from job market conditions. Retirees can indulge in specific tastes and preferences such as a preference for natural amenities or access to health care services. This paper examines the question of which attribute is more important when a retiree migrant is deciding between easy medical access versus possibly secluded natural amenities. Retirees appear to consider both attributes, with natural amenities appearing more important drivers of migration decisions. |
| Keywords: | health care access, migration, natural amenities, retirees, Environmental Economics and Policy, Health Economics and Policy, I11, J11, J18, |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124606&r=mig |
| By: | Johan Fourie; Maria Santana-Gallego |
| Abstract: | Ethnic reunion is the propensity of tourists to travel to regions where their ancestors originate from, while cultural affinity is the propensity of tourists to travel to regions with a shared cultural identity. This paper uses a "world migration matrix", which records the year-1500 origins of the current populations of 159 countries, in a standard tourism gravity equation to provide the first empirical evidence of the existence of both these tourism traits at the global level. Our results remain robust even when controlling for other historical links, such as colonial legacy and regional trade agreements. By controlling for trade flows, we also show that this impact is unique to tourism. Ethnic reunion and cultural affinity are thus important — and neglected — constituents of tourism patterns (and of research), with important policy implications. |
| Keywords: | migration, trade, tourism, history, cultural affinity, ethnic reunion, ethnicity |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:293&r=mig |
| By: | Cho, Seong-Hoon; Tanaka, Katsuya; Wu, JunJie; Chadourne, Matthew H.; Roberts, Roland K.; Kim, Seung Gyu |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124896&r=mig |
| By: | Bouzahzah, Mohamed; Saber, Brahim |
| Abstract: | The article examines the impact of labor mobility cost subsidy on levels of emigrations between two identical countries. The analysis is led in an OLG model with two countries. The analysis is conducted as part of an overlapping generations model with two countries. Individuals bear the cost of endogenous mobility. It depends on the number of fellow citizens of the candidate to emigration they are already present in the host country. Each individual is different by a degree of attachment to his country, the less attached are the most prescribed. We show that a grant of part of the cost of mobility in the early starters can initiate the process of emigration and reduce these costs. Other people decide to emigrate even though they are not subsidized and have a degree of attachment to their country more important than the first emigrants. The study of welfare shows that this is positive in the send country when the cost of migration is weak and it is similarly in the host country when the rate of migration is weak. |
| Keywords: | Labor mobility; endogenous mobility cost; overlapping generations |
| JEL: | F22 H22 D60 |
| Date: | 2012–06–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:38982&r=mig |