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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Sandra Schaffner; Barbara Treude |
| Abstract: | Since ethnic clustering is common in Germany, a better understanding of its effects on the integration of immigrants could be important for integration policies, especially in the light of rising immigration and a skilled worker shortage. Yet, both economic theory and empirical research for other countries cannot give a clear-cut answer to whether clustering is benefi cial or detrimental for immigrants’ integration. In this paper, the effect of residential clustering on the labour market outcome of first-generation immigrants in Germany is analysed empirically. It, thus, contributes to the literature by extending it to Germany on which hardly any research has been conducted. For the analysis, two measures for labour market integration are used: the employment probability and wage levels. In order to control for the endogeneity of the location decision, a two-step strategy is used, combining a control function and an instrumental variable (IV) approach. The results suggest a negative enclave effect on both employment and wages, that is even larger when sorting is taken into account. |
| Keywords: | Ethnic enclaves; residential clustering; labour market integration; migrants; wage differentials |
| JEL: | J61 J64 J31 R23 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0536&r=mig |
| By: | Jürgen Bitzer (University of Oldenburg - Department of Economics & ZenTra); Erkan Gören (University of Oldenburg - Department of Economics); Sanne Hiller (Aarhus University - Department of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the role of immigrant employees for a firm’s capability to absorb international knowledge. Using matched employer-employee data from Denmark for the years 1996 to 2009, we are able to show that non-Danish employees from technological advanced countries contribute significantly to a firm’s economic output through their ability to access international knowledge. The empirical results suggest that the immigrants’ impact increases if they come from technological advanced countries, have a high educational level, and are employed in high-skilled positions. |
| Keywords: | R&D Spillovers, Absorptive Capacity, Firm-Level Analysis, Foreign Workers, Immigrants |
| JEL: | D20 J82 L20 O30 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zen:wpaper:49&r=mig |
| By: | Michael Amior |
| Abstract: | The skill gap in geographical mobility is entirely driven by workers who report moving for a new job. A natural explanation lies in the large expected surplus accruing to skilled job matches. Just as large surpluses ease the frictions which impede job search in general, they also help overcome those frictions (specifically moving costs) which plague cross-city matching in particular. I reject the alternative hypothesis that mobility differences are driven by variation in the moving costs themselves, based on PSID evidence on self-reported willingness to move. Evidence on wage processes also supports my claims. |
| Keywords: | Internal migration, job search, education, skills |
| JEL: | J24 J61 J64 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1338&r=mig |
| By: | Olga Zeveleva (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the discursive construction of co-ethnic migration in German society. Taking a biographical study on ethnic Germans from the former Soviet Union as a starting point, the author traces co-ethnic immigrant pathways in German society and analyzes the legal frameworks, institutions, and organizations encountered by these migrants. The author employs a critical discourse analysis approach to texts relating to a camp where newly arriving immigrants live and undergo registration. The article proposes a new way of researching discursive construction, using biographical interviews as a starting point for identifying “localities of discourse” which are important to the group in question. Such an approach allows us to find relevant sources of discourse in a way that is grounded in empirical material, and subsequently to account for which discourses are appropriated by members of certain social groups, such as co-ethnic migrants. The article thus builds a bridge between biographical sociology and critical discourse analysis, using the former as a point of departure for framing the selection of materials for implementing the latter. The article makes a methodological contribution by introducing the concept “locality of discourse” as a bridge between biographical sociology and critical discourse analysis. The author also makes an empirical contribution by examining a border transit camp in Germany as a “locality of discourse” and showing how the camp informs our understanding of the place of co-ethnic migrants in German society |
| Keywords: | co-ethnic migration, repatriation, German migration policy, critical discourse analysis, borders. |
| JEL: | Z |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:61/soc/2015&r=mig |
| By: | Yao, Y. (Tilburg University, Center For Economic Research); van Ours, J.C. (Tilburg University, Center For Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Many immigrants in the Netherlands have poor Dutch language skills. They face problems in speaking and reading Dutch. Our paper investigates how these prob-<br/>lems affect their labor market performance in terms of employment, hours of work<br/>and wages. We find that for female immigrants language problems have signifi-<br/>cantly negative effects on hourly wages but not on employment probability and<br/>hours of work. For male immigrants language problems do not affect employment<br/>probability, hours of work or hourly wages. |
| Keywords: | Language skills; immigrants; labor market performance |
| JEL: | J24 J5 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiucen:8df5e344-eb4e-4c90-9429-8411b22f94ea&r=mig |
| By: | Aguayo Téllez Ernesto; Martínez José N.; Rangel González Erick |
| Abstract: | While typically socioeconomically disadvantaged, Mexican migrants in the United States tend to have better health outcomes than non-Hispanic Whites. This phenomenon is known as the Hispanic Health Paradox. Using data from Mexico and the United States, we examine several health outcomes for non-Hispanic Whites and Mexicans in the United States and in Mexico and employ Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions to help explain the paradox. We find evidence that selectivity is playing a significant role in the relatively healthy status of Mexican migrants in the United States. More importantly, there is evidence that health selectivity is a complex process and its effects typically do not work the same way for different health conditions and across genders. We also find evidence that some of migrants' health advantages are lost as they spend more time in the United States. |
| Keywords: | International Migration; Mexico; Selectivity; Health Paradox. |
| JEL: | I10 F22 O15 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdm:wpaper:2015-02&r=mig |
| By: | Shyam Gouri Suresh |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the impact of migration on welfare in a general equilibrium model using a simulation-based approach. Agents make decisions regarding the acquisition of skill and migration on the basis of their idiosyncratic characteristics and different migration regimes. Migration in turn has an impact on skilled and unskilled wages in migrant sending and receiving economies. The model also incorporates the effect of skill levels and migrations on subsequent technological changes in both economies. The macroeconomic implications of the model are studied under a variety of different parameterizations and the paper analyzes the non-equilibrium dynamics of various immigration policies in terms of various conceptions of welfare. Results indicate that the optimal policy depends greatly on the type of welfare function employed. Notably, under a variety of different parameterizations, if recipient country GDP per capita is used to describe welfare, more open migration policies are optimal whereas if minimizing inequality among recipient country citizens is the primary objective, closed border policies are optimal. For other definitions of welfare, optimal policies are more sensitive to changes in parameters and assumptions. The paper examines the importance of various assumptions and finds that endogenous skill-based technology change, technology transfer, and remittances are among some of the critical assumptions. |
| Keywords: | Migration, Simulation-Based Model, Welfare Functions, Inequality, General Equilibrium |
| JEL: | F22 C63 D6 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dav:wpaper:15-01&r=mig |