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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Zhiling Wang; Thomas de Graaff; Peter Nijkamp (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This study analyses the impact of cultural composition on regional attractiveness from the perspective of migrant sorting behaviour. We use an attitudinal survey to quantify cultural distances between natives and immigrants in the area concerned, and estimate the migrants’ varying preferences for both cultural diversity and cultural distance. To account for regional unobserved heterogeneity, our econometric analysis employs artificial instrumental variables, as developed by Bayer et al. (2004). The main conclusions are twofold. On the one hand, cultural diversity increases regional attractiveness. On the other hand, average cultural distance greatly weakens regional attractiveness, even when the presence of network effect is controlled for. |
| Keywords: | migration, cultural diversity, cultural distance, destination choice, sorting |
| JEL: | R2 Z1 |
| Date: | 2014–06–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20140066&r=mig |
| By: | Rod Tyers (Business School, University of Western Australia and Research School of Economics, Australian National University); Iain Bain (KPMG Sydney) |
| Abstract: | Trade and technology driven increases in skill premia in the older industrial regions since the 1980s have raised the spectre of “skill shortages”, one consequence of which has been freer migration of skilled and professional workers from developing regions. The links between demographic change, migration flows and economic growth are here explored using a demographic sub-model that is integrated within an otherwise standard model of the global economy in which regional households are disaggregated by age and gender. New matrices of global migration flows are developed and disaggregated by skill level to support this modelling. Skilled migration flows are assumed to be motivated by real wage differences to an extent that is variably constrained by immigration policies. A uniform relaxation of these constraints is shown to have most effect on labour markets in the traditional migrant destinations, Australia, Western Europe and North America, where it restrains the skill premium and substantially enhances GDP growth. Skill premia are raised and GDP growth slowed, however, in regions of origin, and particularly in South Asia, where the wage gap with the West is particularly high. On average, therefore, global wage inequality is exacerbated by expanded skilled migration. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwa:wpaper:15-12&r=mig |
| By: | Laura Hering (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands); Rodrigo Paillacar (University of Cergy-Pontoise, France) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how internal migration is a affected by Brazil's increased integration into the world economy. We analyze the impact of regional differences in access to foreign demand on sector-specific bilateral migration rates between the Brazilian states for the years 1995 to 2003. Using international trade data, we compute a foreign market access indicator at the sectoral level, which is exogenous to domestic migration. A higher foreign market access is associated with a higher local labor demand and attracts workers via two potential channels: higher wages and new job opportunities. Our results show that both channels play a significant role in internal migration. Further, we find a heterogeneous impact across industries according to their comparative advantage on the world market. However, the impact of market access is robust only for low-educated wor kers. This finding is consistent with the fact that Brazil is exporting mainly goods that are intensive in unskilled labor. |
| Keywords: | Regional migration, international trade, market access, Brazil |
| JEL: | F16 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2014–07–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20140084&r=mig |
| By: | Karima Kourtit (VU University Amsterdam); Peter Nijkamp (VU University Amsterdam); Daniel Arribas-Bel (Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America) |
| Abstract: | This paper highlights the ‘magic of diasporas’ − as a source of progress in a globalizing world − with special attention for migrant (or ethnic) entrepreneurship. The present study aims to identify and examine the critical critical success factors of migrant enterprises and their socio-economic implications in modern cities. We will assess the business performance of migrant entrepreneurs by employing a new analytical instrument, coined Super-Efficient Data Envelopment Analysis (Super-DEA). Next, we will offer a multidimensional visualization of the relative differences in the performance of migrant entrepreneurs by introducing a recently developed technique from the cognitive sciences, coined Self-Organizing Maps (SOMs). This analytical apparatus will be tested on the basis of a sample of Moroccan entrepreneurs in four Dutch cities, namely Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. The study will be concluded with some strategic conclusions. |
| Keywords: | migrant entrepreneurship, diaspora economy, ethnic diversity, foreign migrants, economic performance, social capital, immigrant networks, social networks, Super-Efficient Data Envelopment Analysis, Self-Organizing Maps, SWOT analysis, |
| JEL: | L26 O15 |
| Date: | 2013–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20130106&r=mig |
| By: | Or Levkovich; Jan Rouwendal (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | In the globalized economy the presence of migrants is essential for urban and regional growth, and it is therefore important to know what makes a city an attractive place for highly skilled migrants. This paper aims to shed light on this issue by considering the location choice of highly-educated foreign workers, and if and how their valuation of urban amenities differs from domestic workers. To do so, we apply a residential location-choice model to estimate the attractiveness of residential locations in the Dutch Randstad for low and high-skilled, domestic and foreign workers, and calculate and compare their willingness to pay for each of these amenities. |
| Keywords: | urban amenities, foreign workers |
| JEL: | R53 R11 |
| Date: | 2014–07–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20140093&r=mig |
| By: | Hans G. Bloemen (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | We empirically analyze the language proficiency of migrants in the Netherlands. Traditionally, the emphasis in studying language proficiency and economic outcomes has been on the relation between earnings and indicators for language proficiency, motivated by the human capital theory. Here we analyze whether there is a relation between proficiency of the destination language and job level. A lack of language skills may induce the migrant to work in jobs of a lower level leading to lower job satisfaction. We use subjective survey information about job satisfaction and the fit between the migrant's education and skill level and the job. We also use objective information on professional level. Our estimation strategy allows for unobservable correlations between language proficiency and labour market outcomes by employing a simultaneous two equations framework which also exploits the panel nature of our data, by allowing for time persistent random effects. We use a variety of different instrumental variables, some of which are related to linguistic distance, to shed light on the robustness of the results. For men, we find evidence for a positive relationship between indicators for language proficiency and satisfaction with work type and professional level. For women, no impact of language proficiency on the level of the job can be found. Rather, women with lower proficiency levels are not selected into employment in the first place. |
| Keywords: | Skills, Occupational choice, Economics of Immigrants, Panel data models |
| JEL: | J15 J24 C33 |
| Date: | 2014–11–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20140148&r=mig |
| By: | ZHANG Hongyong |
| Abstract: | Using unique panel data on the temporary movement of Chinese workers to 186 economies during 1992-2012, I investigate the patterns and determinants of labor mobility in the services trade. I estimate a gravity model of labor mobility in two categories, namely, overseas labor services and overseas contracted projects. I find that distance (proxy for migration costs) and income are not the most important determinants of the latter. For overseas contracted projects, the dispatch of workers is not driven by their pure economic aims but by the Chinese government's policies and strategies such as its overseas project promotion policy. Furthermore, I employ propensity score matching with the difference-in-difference estimation method to investigate the impact of this policy upon labor mobility. The results show that the policy of promoting overseas contracted projects has causal and strong positive effects on labor mobility in construction-related sectors. |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:15045&r=mig |