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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Bianchi, Milo |
| Abstract: | We build a simple model of self-selection into migration and immigration policy determination. We first show that the effect of any immigration policy can be decomposed into a size and a composition effect. We then explore how the optimal policy may change once the latter effect is considered. |
| Keywords: | Immigrant self-selection; immigration policy; |
| JEL: | O24 J61 F22 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:dauphi:urn:hdl:123456789/5377&r=mig |
| By: | Ekrame Boubtane (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne et CERDI - Université d'Auvergne); Jean-Christophe Dumont (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development - OECD) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a reappraisal of the impact of migration on economic growth for 22 OECD countries between 1986 and 2006. It is based on a unique dataset that enables to distinguish net migration of the native-born and foreign-born by skill level. Migration is introduced in an augmented Solow-Swan model and the results are obtained using a GMM estimation, in order to deal with the potential endogeneity of the migration variables. In this framework, we identify a positive impact of the human capital brought by migrants on economic growth. The contribution of immigrants to the human capital accumulation tends to dominate the mechanical dilution effect, but the net effect is fairly small, including in countries which have highly selective migration policies. |
| Keywords: | International migration, human capital, economic growth, generalized methods of moments. |
| JEL: | C23 F22 J24 J61 O41 O47 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:13013&r=mig |
| By: | Masja van Meeteren (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Sonia Pereira (Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Lisbon) |
| Abstract: | This paper draws on qualitative and quantitative data on the migration experiences of Brazilians living in Portugal and the Netherlands to reflect and expand upon the existing knowledge on the role of social networks in migration processes. We consider different migrant profiles based on principal migration motives to identify differentiated socio-demographic profiles and relate these to migration strategies. We show that differences in the ways migrants access and use social networks in their migration projects can be related to these different migration motives and profiles. Simultaneously, we compare two distinct immigration contexts both in terms of contemporary immigration regimes and working opportunities and historical links to Brazil. Our findings demonstrate that migration scholars need to move beyond the narrow conceptualisation of social networks based on community or kin relationships, to consider multiple configurations involving different agents – both in the origin and destination countries – at different stages of the migration process. In addition, we show that future analyses would benefit from taking into account the differences between migrants driven by distinct motivations in different places. |
| Keywords: | Social networks, immigration, migration motives, Portugal, Brazil, Netherlands |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nor:wpaper:2013010&r=mig |
| By: | Aguilar Esteva, Arturo Alberto (ITAM, Mexico) |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically examines the educational selectivity of United States immigrants and of those that return to their source country. Data from the 1970 to 2000 U.S. Census and the 2010 American Community Survey are employed. Ten countries are selected for the study based on their historical and contemporaneous importance on U.S. migration. The results generally indicate positive selection on educational attainment of recently-arrived immigrants, being China, India, and Philippines the most prominent examples. Mexico does not show evidence of positive or negative selection, but their immigrants' selectivity has worsened through time. Historically, the educational selectivity of returning migrants accentuated the positive selection of those migrants that stay in the United States in most countries' cases. However, patterns of selection among migrants that stay have recently changed. A more detailed analysis with data from the last decade finds evidence of positive selection of immigrants staying in the U.S. for the Mexican and Philippines' case, as well as negative selection for the Chinese. Trends of returning migration are also analyzed by gender, age, naturalization status, and migration spell duration. Mixed evidence of selection trends is found. |
| Keywords: | immigration, return migration, self-selection, education |
| JEL: | I25 J11 J61 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7222&r=mig |
| By: | Epstein, Gil S. (Bar-Ilan University); Heizler (Cohen), Odelia (Academic College of Tel-Aviv Yaffo) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we explore employers' decisions regarding the employment of legal and illegal immigrants in the presence of endogenous adjustment cost, minimum wages and an enforcement budget. We show that increasing the employment of legal foreign workers will increase the number of illegal immigrants which will replace the employment of the local population and thus creating illegal migration. |
| Keywords: | illegal immigration, foreign worker, minimum wages |
| JEL: | J3 K42 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7220&r=mig |
| By: | Hirsch, Boris (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg); Jahn, Elke J. (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg); Toomet, Ott (University of Tartu); Hochfellner, Daniela (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes wage assimilation of ethnic German immigrants to Germany. We use unique administrative data that include a standardized measure of immigrants' pre-migration wage based on occupation, industry, tenure, qualification, and the German wage structure. We find that immigrants experience a substantial initial wage disadvantage compared to natives. During their first 15 years in the host country they manage to close a considerable part of this gap, though assimilation is only partial. A 10% higher pre-migration wage translates into a 1.6% higher wage in Germany when also controlling for educational attainment, thus pointing at partial transferability of human capital acquired in the source country to the host country's labor market. We also find that wage assimilation is significantly accelerated for immigrants with a higher pre-migration wage. Our results are in line with strong complementarities between general skills and host country-specific human capital, in particular proficiency in the host country's language. |
| Keywords: | migration, labor market assimilation, ethnic Germans, transferability of human capital |
| JEL: | J61 J31 J24 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7240&r=mig |
| By: | Ekrame Boubtane (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne et CERDI - Université d'Auvergne); Dramane Coulibaly (EconomiX - Université de Paris Ouest Nanterre); Christophe Rault (LEO - Université d'Orléans et Toulouse Business School - France) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines empirically the interaction between immigration and host country economic conditions. We employ a panel VAR techniques to use a large annual dataset on 22 OECD countries over the period 1987-2009. The VAR approach allows to addresses the endogeneity problem by allowing the endogenous interaction between the variables in the system. Our results provide evidence of migration contribution to host economic prosperity (positive impact on GDP per capita and negative impact on aggregate unemployment, native-and foreign-born unemployment rates). We also find that migration is influenced by host economic conditions (migration responds positively to host GDP per capita and negatively to host total unemployment rate). |
| Keywords: | Immigration, growth, unemployment, panel VAR. |
| JEL: | E20 F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:13012&r=mig |
| By: | Freire, Tiago; Li, Xiaoye |
| Abstract: | Putnam (1995)'s seminal work was one of the first to describe the decline of social capital in the US after the 1960s, a period that saw a large increase in the flow of immigrants into the US. Using the Volunteer Supplement of the September Sample of the Current Population Survey (CPS) between 2004 and 2011, we examine the relationship between immigration and social capital in the US, measured by membership of organizations, volunteering and hours volunteered. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to address this question. Once we correct for immigrants' self-selection to different destinations using a supply-push instrumental variable, we find that a one standard deviation increase in the number of immigrants decreases volunteering by 0.08 to 0.12 standard deviations, or that the 8.7 million legal immigrants who entered the US between 2005 and 2011 reduced the probability Americans volunteered between 27.8% and 35.7%. From our robustness checks we argue that the reduction in volunteering by natives is driven by the the fact that new immigrants have a lower social capital, reducing the benefits of volunteering. Our results have important implications for public policy. We show that migrants' social capital has an impact on receiving communities. Therefore immigrants' social capital (such as having relatives living at the receiving community) should be taken into consideration. Future research should focus on what is the optimal weight to give to the presence of family members versus, for instance, educational level of the immigrants. |
| Keywords: | Migration; Social Capital; Volunteer; Race |
| JEL: | J61 J79 Z13 |
| Date: | 2013–02–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:44540&r=mig |
| By: | Isilda Mara (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies); Michael Landesmann (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies) |
| Abstract: | The study analyses migration intentions and expected length of stay in the host country, taking account of the propensity to change (or retain) migration plans during the course of the migration experience in the host country. We analyse the particular case of Romanian migrants in Italy using a survey conducted in 2011 in the context of the TEMPO/NORFACE project. We used different specifications to analyse the exogeneity vs endogeneity of steady/ changing migration plans on expected length of stay and migration intentions. The survey and the analysis showed that Romanian migrants, both men and women, who arrived in Italy after May 2004, have modified their migration plans and the main determinants have been employment and family reasons. Migrants who have maintained similar migration plans to the ones upon arrival are mostly those with preference for long-term and permanent migration. Counting for gender differences in analysing migration plans matters because diverse patterns emerge for men compared to women. Differently from women, men plan their length of stay based on the employment context, especially on whether the job is adequate to the level of qualification and whether earnings match expectations. For women, on the other hand, family context variables play a significant role. In conclusion, migration intentions could be a good predictor of migration behaviour if we account for the endogeneity of steadiness/switching of such plans. |
| Keywords: | migration, temporary/permanent, Romanian migrants, applied econometrics, bivariate ordered probit, migrants in Italy |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nor:wpaper:2013007&r=mig |
| By: | Nicole Schneeweis |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I study the impact of immigrant concentration in primary schools on educational outcomes of native and migrant students in a major Austrian city between 1980-2001. The outcome measures of interest are track attendance after primary education and grade repetition. Using variation in the fraction of students with migration background among adjacent cohorts within schools and drawing special attention to time trends, the analysis shows that migrant students suffer from school-grades with a higher share of migrant students, while natives are not affected on average. These negative spill-over effects are particularly strong between students from the same area of origin, indicating that peer groups in schools form along ethnic dimensions. |
| Keywords: | school choice, migrants, ethnic minorities, segregation |
| JEL: | I21 J15 J24 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:nrnwps:2013_02&r=mig |
| By: | Allison Shertzer |
| Abstract: | The United States absorbed nearly 22 million immigrants from Europe between 1880 and 1915. How did these immigrants, largely from undemocratic European states, become integrated into the American political system? This paper uses a newly assembled dataset of urban populations in the United States prior to World War I to investigate the decision of newly arrived immigrants to mobilize politically, focusing on the citizenship choice of foreign-born individuals in city wards. I find that immigrants were more likely to become politically active as their ethnic group’s share of the electorate grew, particularly in wards where the Democratic Party likely needed the vote of new immigrants to win elections. |
| JEL: | D72 J15 N31 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18827&r=mig |
| By: | Ingo Isphording |
| Abstract: | This study quantifies the disadvantage in the formation of literacy skills of immigrants that arises from the linguistic distance between mother tongue and host country language. Combining unique cross-country data on literacy scores with information on the linguistic distance between languages, gaps in literacy test scores are estimated. Linguistically distant immigrants face significant initial disadvantages of linguistic origin that exceed existing differentials across wage distributions and between employed and unemployed subpopulations. The importance of the linguistic origin increases with the age at migration, confirming the linguistic Critical Period hypothesis. Assimilation in literacy scores is moderate and does not offset the initial disadvantage. |
| Keywords: | Linguistic distance; literacy; human capital; immigrants |
| JEL: | F22 J15 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2013–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0397&r=mig |
| By: | Lin, Carl (Beijing Normal University) |
| Abstract: | Using 1990, 2000 censuses and a 2010 survey, I examine the economic performance of ethnically Chinese immigrants from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan (CHT) in the U.S. labor market. Since 1990, relative wages of CHT migrants have been escalating in contrast to other immigrants. I show these widening gaps are largely explained by individual's endowments, mostly education. Rising U.S.-earned degrees by CHT migrants can account for this relatively successful economic assimilation. Cohort analysis shows that the economic performance of CHT migrants admitted to the U.S. has been improving, even allowing for the effect of aging. |
| Keywords: | Chinese immigration, economic assimilation, Oaxaca decomposition, synthetic cohort analysis |
| JEL: | J31 J61 J24 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7208&r=mig |
| By: | Anna DePaoli; Mariapia Mendolat |
| Abstract: | Global international migration may influence child labor through a labor market effect. We empirically investigate this issue by using an original cross-country survey dataset, which combines information on international emigration flows with detailed individual-level data on child labor at age 5-15 in a wide range of developing countries. By using variation in the emigration supply shocks across labor market units defined on the basis of both geography and skill, we estimate a set of child labor equations where the variable of interest is the interactive effect between parental skill and country-level emigration shocks. We measure the latter through different indicators including a direct measure of the relative skill composition of emigrants relative to the resident population in the country of origin. Overall, after controlling for a large set of individual-level characteristics, remittances, and country fixed effects, our findings are consistent with predictions and show that international out-migration may significantly reduce child labor in disadvantaged households through changes in the local labor market. |
| Keywords: | International Migration, Child Labor, Factor Mobility, Cross-country Survey Data |
| JEL: | F22 F1 J61 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mib:wpaper:231&r=mig |
| By: | Bredtmann, Julia; Otten, Sebastian |
| Abstract: | Using data from the European Social Survey 2002-2011 covering immigrants in 26 European countries, this paper analyzes the impact of source- and host-country characteristics on female immigrant labor supply. We find that immigrant women’s labor supply in their host country is positively associated with the labor force participation rate in their source country, which serves as a proxy for the country’s preferences and beliefs regarding women’s roles. The effect of this cultural proxy on the labor supply of immigrant women is robust to controlling for spousal, parental, and a variety of source-country characteristics. This result suggests that the culture and norms of their source country play an important role for immigrant women’s labor supply. Moreover, we find evidence for a strong positive correlation between the host-country female labor force participation rate and female immigrant labor supply, suggesting that immigrant women assimilate to the work behavior of natives. |
| Keywords: | female labor force participation, immigration, cultural transmission |
| JEL: | J16 J22 J61 |
| Date: | 2013–01–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:44544&r=mig |
| By: | Sofie Bødker (University of Copenhagen and CEBR); Rasmus Højbjerg Jacobsen (CEBR, Copenhagen Business School); Jan Rose Skaksen (Economics Department, Copenhagen Business School, CEBR, IZA and CReAM) |
| Abstract: | We consider the fiscal impact of work related high skilled immigration to a generous welfare state. In a simple theoretical model, we show that, even though a generous welfare state tends to attract immigrants with a high demand for public services, the high skilled immigrants may still be selected among individuals with a relatively low demand of public services. In the empirical analysis we apply a unique Danish data set containing very detailed information on all residents in Denmark, including information on migration. Denmark is interesting, because it has one of the most generous welfare states in the world, and, in spite of that, it turns out that high skilled immigration gives rise to a big net fiscal surplus. Further, high skilled immigrants seem to be selected among those having a relatively low demand of public services. |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nor:wpaper:2013006&r=mig |
| By: | Oka, Natsuko |
| Abstract: | This paper offers a brief analysis of the legal aspects of the ethnic return migration policy of Kazakhstan, a post-Soviet Central Asian state that has been active in seeking ties with its diaspora since independence. This paper examines the definition of oralman (repatriates) and the establishment of a quota on the number of Kazakh immigrants who are eligible for government funds to show how the rationale and preferences in repatriation policy have changed over the years. By focusing on changes in migration-related legislation in the late 2000s and early 2010s, the paper notes that two key goals of Kazakhstan’s migration policy are not necessarily consistent with each other: the promotion of an ethnically based nation-building project by encouraging the "return" of co-ethnics living abroad, and building a workforce that is best suited for the development of the state’s economy. |
| Keywords: | Kazakhstan, Migration, Law, Ethnic return migration, Migration law, Quota system |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper394&r=mig |
| By: | Grossmann, Volker; Schäfer, Andreas; Steger, Thomas M. |
| Abstract: | We investigate the effects of interregional labor market integration in a two-sector, overlapping-generations model with land-intensive production in the non-tradable goods sector (housing). To capture the response to migration on housing supply, capital formation is endogenous, assuming that firms face capital adjustment costs. Our analysis highlights heterogeneous welfare effects of labor market integration. Whereas individuals without residential property lose from immigration due to increased housing costs, landowners may win. Moreover, we show how the relationship between migration and capital formation depends on initial conditions at the time of labor market integration. Our model is also capable to explain the reversal of migration during the transition to the steady state, like observed in East Germany after unification in 1990. It is also consistent with a gradually rising migration stock and house prices in high-productivity countries like Switzerland. |
| Keywords: | Capital formation; House prices; Land distribution; Migration; Welfare |
| JEL: | D90 F20 O10 |
| Date: | 2013–02–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fri:fribow:fribow00441&r=mig |
| By: | Isilda Mara (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies); Michael Landesmann (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies) |
| Abstract: | Mobility in the forms of permanent migration, return or out-migration can provide individuals with gainful employment, better jobs and a higher level of earnings. But as a growing number of studies are suggesting, the gains from migration should not be strictly evaluated from the utilitarian approach but subjective well-being indicators should be taken into consideration. The purpose of this study is to test how life satisfaction during the migration experience determines the preference to stay, return or out-migrate by controlling not only for economic but also for social and subjective well-being determinants. We aim to address this analysis by combining two streams of research: the one on migration and return decisions and the one on life satisfaction and subjective well-being literature so as to broaden the analytical framework to add to economic thinking also some of the main findings from other social sciences. The results of the study confirm that, once in the destination country, migration intentions such as to stay permanently, to move to another country or to return home are strongly linked to the assessment of life satisfaction through diverse social and economic drivers. For women life satisfaction is not only a good predictor of migration preferences but also a mediator, whereas for men this is not confirmed. Determinants that appear to be positively linked with life satisfaction are civic participation and housing which correlate with migrants’ reporting high levels of life satisfaction. |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nor:wpaper:2013008&r=mig |
| By: | Ingo Isphording |
| Abstract: | This study examines the returns to foreign and local language skills of immigrants in the Spanish labor market. Different sources of endogeneity are addressed by deriving a set of novel instruments for language proficiency through a measure of linguistic dissimilarity. Using cross-sectional data from the 2007 National Immigrant Survey of Spain (NISS), returns to language skills are estimated separately for Spanish, English, German and French proficiency. Foreign language proficiency produces high returns, which appear to be mediated through the channel of occupational choice. The results are discussed against the background of a severe foreign language skills shortage in the Spanish economy. Immigrants may deal as a supplier of foreign language proficiency in the short run. In contrast to most studies, I find no compelling evidence of a wage premium for local language profiiency. |
| Keywords: | Language skills; migration; human capital; linguistic distance; instrumental variable |
| JEL: | F22 J15 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2013–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0398&r=mig |
| By: | Scott Baker (Stanford Economics Department) |
| Abstract: | In the late 1970's, rates of undocumented immigration into the United States increased dra- matically. This increase led to pressure on the federal government to nd some way of dealing with the immigrants, culminating in the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). This paper seeks to examine the e ects that the 1986 IRCA, which legalized over 2.5 million undocumented immigrants, had on the commission of crime in the United States. Using ad- ministrative data from the IRCA application process, I nd evidence that IRCA applicants are associated with higher crime rates prior to legalization and that, subsequent to legalization, this association disappears. I nd national decreases in crime of approximately 2%-5% associ- ated with one percent of the population being legalized, primarily due to a drop in property crimes. This fall in crime is equivalent to 160,000-400,000 fewer crimes committed each year due to legalization. Finally, I calibrate a labor market model of crime using empirical wage and employment data and nd that much of the drop in crime could be explained by greater job market opportunities among those legalized by the IRCA. |
| JEL: | F22 J22 K42 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sip:dpaper:12-012&r=mig |
| By: | Oliver Bakewell (International Migration Institute, University of Oxford) |
| Abstract: | The concept of the migration system, first popularised in the 1970s, has remained a staple component of any review of migration theory. Since then, it has been cast somewhat adrift from its conceptual moorings; today in the literature migration systems are generally either conflated with migrant networks or elevated to the heights of macro-level abstraction which divorces them from any empirical basis. At the same time, by taking on board more sophisticated notions of agency, emergence, and social mechanisms, the broader concept of the social system has moved on from the rather discredited structural-functionalist marina where it was first launched. In recent years, having been rejected by many social theorists, the social system has been subject to major reconstruction prior to its re-launch as a respectable and valuable area of social enquiry. This paper argues that, for the most part, these developments in systems theory have been ignored by those applying the concept of systems to the analysis of migration. It addresses the question of how the concept of the migration system can be reformulated in the light of these theoretical advances and what implications this may have for our research and analysis. |
| Keywords: | migration system, networks, systems theory, critical realism, social mechanisms, agency, emergence, feedback. |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nor:wpaper:2013011&r=mig |
| By: | Georgios Papadopoulos (University of East Anglia) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the individual level relationship between immigration and property crime in England and Wales using crime self-reports from the Crime and Justice Survey. Binary and count data models that account for under-reporting of criminal activity are used, since under-reporting is a major concern in self-reported crime data. The results indicate that under-reporting is considerably large, but, if anything, immigrants are less likely to under-report than natives. They also reveal that, once controlling for under-reporting and for basic demographic characteristics, even though not statistically significant, the effect of being an immigrant on crime is robustly negative across all model specifications (and statistically significant in some of those specifications). This might suggest that the negative association actually exists in the population, but the nature of the regression models in combination with the data in hand do not allow to estimate the relationship more precisely. We finally find that the effect of immigration status on property crime differs across regions and across ethnic groups. |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uea:aepppr:2012_37&r=mig |
| By: | Ekrame Boubtane (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne et CERDI - Université d'Auvergne); Dramane Coulibaly (EconomiX - Université de Paris Ouest Nanterre); Christophe Rault (LEO - Université d'Orléans et Toulouse Business School - France) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the causality relationship between immigration, unemployment and economic growth of the host country. We employ the panel Granger causality testing approach of Kónya (2006) that is based on SUR systems and Wald tests with country specific bootstrap critical values. This approach allows to test for Granger-causality on each individual panel member separately by taking into account the contemporaneous correlation across countries. Using annual data over the 1980-2005 period for 22 OECD countries, we find that, only in Portugal, unemployment negatively causes immigration, while in any country, immigration does not cause unemployment. On the other hand, our results show that, in four countries (France, Iceland, Norway and the United Kingdom), growth positively causes immigration, whereas in any country, immigration does not cause growth. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, growth, unemployment, causality. |
| JEL: | E20 F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:13014&r=mig |
| By: | Björn Alecke; Claudia Burgard; Timo Mitze |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects of tuition fees on the university enrollment and location decision of high school graduates in Germany. After a Federal Constitutional Court decision in 2005, 7 out of 16 German federal states introduced tuition fees for higher education. In the empirical analysis, we use the variation over time and across regions in this institutional change in order to isolate the causal effect of tuition fees on student enrollment and migration. Controlling for a range of regional- and university-specific effects, our results from Difference-in-Differences estimations show that there is generally no effect of tuition fees on internal enrollment rates. However, we find a redirecting effect on first-year students‘ migratory behavior as indicated by a signicant drop in the gross in-migration rates in fee-charging states. Further, our results point at a stronger migration response of male students, which, however, can mainly be attributed to a “border effect”. That is, interregional migration flows of male students are redirected from fee-charging universities to those universities that are geographically close by while being located in a non-charging neighboring state. Controlling for these border effects, the relocating trend in long-distance migration of university freshmen does not show any particular gender differences. |
| Keywords: | Tuition fees; gender differences; higher education; student migration; policy evaluation; Difference-in-Differences |
| JEL: | D04 I23 J16 R23 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0404&r=mig |
| By: | Alexander M. Danzer (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München); Barbara Dietz; Kseniia Gatskova |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the research design and data description of a household survey conducted in Tajikistan in 2011, the Tajikistan Household Panel Survey (THPS). Based on a sample of the 2007 and 2009 Tajikistan Living Standards Measurement Survey (TLSS) administered by the World Bank and UNICEF, 1,503 household were re-interviewed. The main part of the paper explains the technique of the household survey including sampling strategy, questionnaire design, pretest and fieldwork, training of interviewers and supervisors and survey quality control procedures. A short overview over the characteristics of households and respondents follows. |
| Keywords: | Tajikistan, panel data, survey design, migration |
| JEL: | C83 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ost:wpaper:327&r=mig |
| By: | Carmen Camacho (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | We develop a model economy adapting Hotelling's migration law to make individuals react to the gradient of their indirect utility. In a first version, individuals respond uniquely to utility differences. In a second phase, we insert our migration law as a dynamic constraint in a spatial model of economic growth in which a policy maker maximizes overall welfare. In both cases we prove the existence of a unique solution under certain assumptions and for each initial distribution of human capital. We illustrate some extremely interesting properties of the economy and the associated population dynamics through numerical simulations. In the decentralized case in which a region enjoys a temporal technological advantage, an agglomeration in human capital emerges in the central area, which does not coincide with the technologically advanced area. In the complete model, initial differences in human capital can trigger everlasting inequalities in physical capital. |
| Keywords: | Migration, spatial dynamics, economic growth, parabolic PDE, optimal control. |
| JEL: | J6 C61 R11 R12 R13 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:13017&r=mig |
| By: | d’Albis, Hippolyte; Boubtane, Ekrame; Coulibaly, Dramane |
| Abstract: | Cet article propose une évaluation quantitative des interactions entre d’une part, le Produit Intérieur Brut (PIB) par habitant et le taux de chômage, et d’autre part, l’immigration permanente en France métropolitaine sur la période 1994‐2008. L’immigration est mesurée par les titres de séjour de plus d’un an accordés aux étrangers en provenance des pays tiers et est décomposée par motifs d’admission. L’estimation de modèles vectoriels autorégressifs (VAR) donne les résultats suivants. Le taux d’immigration, et en particulier d’immigration familiale, a un effet positif et significatif sur le PIB par habitant, tandis que les effets de l’immigration sur le chômage ne sont pas significatifs. Par ailleurs, le PIB par habitant a un effet positif et significatif sur le taux d’immigration |
| Keywords: | immigration; croissance; modèles VAR |
| JEL: | E20 F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpm:docweb:1302&r=mig |
| By: | Stijn BAERT (Ghent University); Bart COCKX (Ghent University, Université Catholique de Louvain (IRES), CESIfo and IZA) |
| Abstract: | This article decomposes the observed gaps in educational attainment and school-to-work transitions between grandchildren of natives and immigrants in Belgium into (i) differences in observed family endowments and (ii) a residual “pure ethnic gap”. It innovates by explicitly taking delays in educational attainment into account, by identifying the moments at which the pure ethnic gaps arise, by disentangling the decision to continue schooling at the end of a school year from the achievement within a particular grade, and by integrating the language spoken at home among observed family endowments. The pure ethnic gap in educational attainment is found to be small if delays are neglected, but substantial if not and for school-to-work transitions. It is shown that more than 20% of the pure ethnic gap in graduating from secondary school without delay originates in tenth grade. Language usage explains only part of the gap in school-to-work transitions for low educated. |
| Keywords: | dynamic discrete choice, dynamic selection bias, educational attainment, school-to-work transitions, ethnic minorities, discrimination |
| JEL: | C35 J15 J70 |
| Date: | 2013–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2013005&r=mig |
| By: | Giovanni Peri (UC, Davis); Kevin Shih (UC, Davis); Chad Sparber (Colgate University) |
| Abstract: | Scientists, Technology professionals, Engineers, and Mathematicians (STEM workers) are the fundamental inputs in scientific innovation and technological adoption. Innovation and technological adoption are, in turn, the main drivers of productivity growth in the U.S. In this paper we identify STEM workers in the U.S. and we look at the effect of their growth on the wages and employment of college and non-college educated labor in 219 U.S. cities from 1990 to 2010. In order to identify a supply-driven and heterogenous increase in STEM workers across U.S. cities, we use the dependence of each city on foreign-born STEM workers in 1980 (or 1970) and exploit the introduction and variation (over time and across nationalities) of the H-1B visa program, which expanded access to U.S. labor markets for foreign-born college-educated (mainly STEM) workers. We find that H-1B-driven increases in STEM workers in a city were associated with significant increases in wages paid to both STEM and non-STEM college-educated natives. Non-college educated show no significant wage or employment effect. We also find evidence that STEM workers caused cities to experience higher housing prices for college graduates, increased specialization in high human capital sectors, and a rise in the concentration of natives in cognitive occupations. The magnitudes of these estimates imply that STEM workers contributed significantly to total factor productivity growth in the U.S. and across cities and — to a lesser extent — to the growth in skill-bias between 1990 and 2010. |
| Keywords: | STEMWorkers, H-1B, Foreign-Born, Productivity, College-Educated, Wage, Employment. |
| JEL: | J61 F22 O33 R10 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nor:wpaper:2013009&r=mig |
| By: | Freire, Tiago |
| Abstract: | In 1978, Singapore was the first country to introduce legislation allowing foreign domestic workers (e.g. maids) to work in the country with special visas. Singapore, with its liberal wage policy (no minimum wage), is also the best quasi-natural experiment in determining how a reduction in the cost of domestic work increases the supply of highly skilled female workers. Though Singapore is often cited in the literature as a success story, there are no studies that try to quantify the impact of this legislation. In this paper, we use data from the census conducted between 1957 and 1990, and Singapore's Yearbook of Manpower Statistics between 1974 and 1985, to evaluate the impact of the 1978 legislation in terms of increasing the labour supply of Singaporean women. We compare the female labour supply before and after 1978, for young and older women, high and low-skilled women, and Singaporean-Malay versus Singaporean-Chinese women. We find that the labour supply of women affected by this policy increased by between 2.7% and 12.7%, consistent with previous findings. |
| Keywords: | Gender; Labour Supply; Quasi-Natural Experiment; Singapore |
| JEL: | J16 J21 J61 |
| Date: | 2013–02–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:44448&r=mig |