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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Guzi, Martin (Masaryk University); Kahanec, Martin (Central European University); Kureková, Lucia Mýtna (Slovak Governance Institute) |
| Abstract: | Theoretical arguments and previous country-level evidence indicate that immigrants are more fluid than natives in responding to changing labor shortages across countries, skill-groups or industries. The diversity across EU member states enables us to test this hypothesis across various institutional, economic and policy contexts. Drawing on the EU LFS and EU SILC datasets we study the relationship between residual wage premia as a measure of labor shortages in different skill-industry-country cells and the shares of migrants and natives working in these cells. We find that immigrants' responsiveness to labor market shortages exceeds that of natives in the EU15, in particular in member states with higher unemployment rates, higher levels of (recent) immigration, and more open immigration and integration policies; but also those with barriers to citizenship acquisition or family reunification. Whereas higher welfare expenditures seem to exert a lock-in effect, a comparison across different types of welfare states indicates that institutional complementarities neutralize that effect. |
| Keywords: | labor supply, skill matching, migration, labor shortage, welfare state, institutions, policy |
| JEL: | J15 J24 J61 J68 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9108&r=mig |
| By: | Guy J. Abel |
| Abstract: | Measures of international migration flows are often limited in both availability and comparability. This paper aims to address these issues at a global level using an indirect method to estimate country to country migration flows from more readily available bilateral stock data. Estimates are obtained over five and ten-year periods between 1960 and 2010 by gender, providing a comprehensive picture of past migration patterns. The estimated total amount of global international migrant flows is shown to generally increase over the 50 year time frame. The intensity of migration flows over five and ten-year periods fluctuate at around 0.6 and 1.25 percent of the global ectively, with a noticeable spike during the 1990-95 period. Gender imbalances in the estimated flows between selected regions were found to exist, such as recent movements into oil rich Gulf States from South Asia. The sensitivity of flow estimates to alternative input stock and demographic data as well as changes in political geography are explored. |
| Keywords: | International migration, migration estimation, migration flows, migration stocks, global migration. |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vid:wpaper:1505&r=mig |
| By: | Maria Waldinger |
| Abstract: | This synthesis paper informs the development community about the effects of climate change on migration patterns within and out of developing countries, concentrating on the economic aspects of migration. Empirical evidence shows that people in developing countries respond to climatic change by migrating internally. Evidence on the relationship between climate change and international migration is limited. The effect of climate change on migration decisions depends crucially on socio-economic, political, and institutional conditions. These conditions affect vulnerability to climate change and hence how important climate change is in determining migration decisions. Migration has been an effective response to climate variability and change in the past and might be one in the future, but only under certain pre-conditions. Access to information on the economic and social costs of migration, on advantage and disadvantages of potential destination locations, and the absence of credit constraints and other barriers can help potential migrants to make decisions that will improve livelihoods. Policy intervention is also required to reduce potential negative impacts in both the sending and receiving region. Badly managed migration is associated with high economic, social and psychological costs. |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsg:lsgwps:wp192&r=mig |
| By: | Naci H. Mocan; Luiza Pogorelova |
| Abstract: | We use micro data from the European Social Survey to investigate the impact of “culture of leisure” and taxes on labor force participation and hours worked of second-generation immigrants who reside in 26 European countries. These individuals are born in Europe, and they have been exposed to institutional, legal and labor market structures of their countries, including the tax rates. Fathers of these individuals are first-generation immigrants who migrated from 81 different countries. We construct measures of “taste for leisure” in the country of origin of each immigrant father. We employ average and marginal taxes for each country of residence, and control for a large set of individual characteristics, in addition to attributes of the country of residence and country of ancestry. The results show that for women, both taxes and culture of leisure impact participation and hours worked. For men, taxes influence labor supply both at the intensive and the extensive margins, but culture of leisure has no impact. |
| JEL: | H2 J22 J61 Z1 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21297&r=mig |
| By: | Bertocchi, Graziella (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia) |
| Abstract: | The slave trades out of Africa represent one of the most significant forced migration experiences in history. In this paper I illustrate their long-term consequences. I first consider the influence of the slave trade on the "sending" countries in Africa, with attention to their economic, institutional, demographic, and social implications. Next I evaluate the consequences of the slave trade on the "receiving" countries in the Americas. Here I distinguish between the case of Latin America and that of the United States. For the latter, I further discuss the subsequent migration experiences of the Second Middle Passage, when African slaves were transported, again forcibly, from the coastal regions to the inland, and of the Great Migration, when as free people they chose to leave the deep South for the Northern cities. |
| Keywords: | slavery, Africa, Americas |
| JEL: | F22 J15 O15 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9105&r=mig |
| By: | Luik, Marc-André; Steinhardt, Max Friedrich |
| Abstract: | This paper provides new evidence on native-migrant differences in financial behavior by analyzing the role of noncognitive and cognitive skills. We make use of data from the Health and Retirement Survey (HRS) which is a longitudinal household survey of the older U.S. population containing detailed information about demographic characteristics, financial assets and personality traits of household members. In line with previous studies, we find a substantial gap in stockholding between immigrant and native households. Estimates from a random effects model suggest that cognitive and non-cognitive skills, including personality concepts and economic preferences, are important drivers of stockholding and explain part of the differences between natives and immigrants. These findings are supported by results from a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analysis. Our paper therefore delivers first evidence that differences in non-cognitive and cognitive skills contribute to the explanation of the financial market participation gap between natives and immigrants. |
| Keywords: | Stockholding,Immigrants,Personality traits,Decomposition |
| JEL: | D14 G02 G11 J61 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:hwwirp:164&r=mig |
| By: | Gould, Eric D. (Hebrew University, Jerusalem) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether the increasing "residual wage inequality" trend is related to manufacturing decline and the influx of low-skilled immigrants. There is a vast literature arguing that technological change, international trade, and institutional factors have played a significant role in the inequality trend. However, most of the trend is unexplained by observable factors. This paper attempts to "explain" the growth in the unexplained variance of wages by exploiting variation across locations (states or cities) in the United States in the local level of "residual inequality." The evidence shows that a shrinking manufacturing sector increases inequality. In addition, an influx of low-skilled immigrants increases inequality, but this effect is concentrated in areas with a steeper manufacturing decline. Similar results are found for two alternative measures linked to increasing inequality: the increasing return to education and the decline in the employment rate of non-college men. The overall evidence suggests that the manufacturing and immigration trends have hollowed-out the overall demand for middle-skilled workers in all sectors, while increasing the supply of workers in lower skilled jobs. Both phenomena are producing downward pressure on the relative wages of workers at the low end of the income distribution. |
| Keywords: | inequality, manufacturing, low-skilled immigration |
| JEL: | J31 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9107&r=mig |
| By: | Eric A. Hanushek; Jens Ruhose; Ludger Woessmann |
| Abstract: | Although many U.S. state policies presume that human capital is important for state economic development, there is little research linking better education to state incomes. In a complement to international studies of income differences, we investigate the extent to which quality-adjusted measures of human capital can explain within-country income differences. We develop detailed measures of state human capital based on school attainment from census micro data and on cognitive skills from state- and country-of-origin achievement tests. Partitioning current state workforces into state locals, interstate migrants, and immigrants, we adjust achievement scores for selective migration. We use the new human capital measures in development accounting analyses calibrated with standard production parameters. We find that differences in human capital account for 20-35 percent of the current variation in per-capita GDP among states, with roughly even contributions by school attainment and cognitive skills. Similar results emerge from growth accounting analyses. |
| JEL: | I25 J24 O47 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21295&r=mig |
| By: | Richard P.C. Brown (School of Economics, The University of Queensland); Gareth Leeves (Monash University, Malaysia); Nichola Kitson (School of Economics, The University of Queensland); Richard Prabha Prayaga (School of Economics, The University of Queensland) |
| Abstract: | We investigate how households from migrant communities in Australia deal with conflicting claims on their resources for charitable giving in various forms, using household survey data. We examine financial donations, volunteering and remittances among the competing claims on migrants' resources and the effect of secular consumption on giving. We control for the wide range of religious denominations and the metropolitan and regional locations represented in our sample. We find increases in income lead to more financial donations and remittances. Contemporaneous increases in secular spending appear to be associated with reductions in giving except in the case of remittances. It is suggested that the investment and altruism motives associated with remittances could make it rather more resilient to competing pressures. Overseas donations are more susceptible to secular expenditure than donations in the host country; the latter may be more susceptible to community pressures. Indeed, we find evidence of members of home country community groups in the host country giving more to all claimants. These households may face particular conflicts in meeting all claims on their resources as prior evidence has suggested. Time donations to social organizations are particularly susceptible to discretionary spending, which could impact on integration into the wider community. |
| Keywords: | migrants, charitable giving, volunteering, remittances, religion, sharing norms |
| JEL: | F24 D64 Z12 Z13 |
| Date: | 2015–06–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qld:uq2004:547&r=mig |
| By: | Anna Klabunde (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This report contains the model description for a prototype model of migration decision making which is based on the theory of planned behavior. It makes use of empirically estimated demographic transition rates and is thus, to our knowledge, the first decision model of migration which is embedded in the life course. Moreover, it is, other than most agent-based models, a continous time model which makes heavy use of survival theory and competing risks. The model description follows the ODD+D (``Overview, Design Concepts, Details + Decisions'') protocol as suggested in Müller et al. (2013). |
| Keywords: | Senegal, migration |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2015-002&r=mig |
| By: | Rocha, Rudi (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (IE-UFRJ)); Ferraz, Claudio (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)); Soares, Rodrigo R. (Sao Paulo School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the role of human capital persistence in explaining long-term development. We exploit variation induced by a state-sponsored settlement policy that attracted a pool of immigrants with higher levels of schooling to particular regions of Brazil in the late 19th and early 20th century. We show that municipalities that received settlements experienced increases in schooling that persisted over time. One century after the policy, localities that received state-sponsored settlements had higher levels of schooling and income per capita. We provide evidence that long-run effects were driven by persistently higher supply and use of educational inputs and shifts in the structure of occupations towards skill-intensive sectors. |
| Keywords: | human capital, education, immigration, development |
| JEL: | O15 O18 N36 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9101&r=mig |
| By: | Bezu, Sosina (Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences); Holden, Stein (Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences) |
| Abstract: | Street vending of goods and services is a common phenomenon in urban areas of Africa. Although such street based self-employment activities often lack legal recognition and are sometimes criminalized, significant share of the youth labor force in urban areas earn their livelihood from such activities. This study examines whether street based self-employment is a viable livelihood with a potential for transition or a poverty trap for youth migrants. The study is based on a survey of 445 youth who are engaged in shoe shining and coffee vending activities in two urban areas in Ethiopia. We found that street based self-employment is indeed dominated by migrant youth. In this sample, 96% of those engaged in the street based self-employment are youth and 98% are migrants from rural areas or smaller towns. We found that the average monthly earning of these self-employed youth is better than the minimum wage in public sector and much larger than the official poverty line. We found that most of the youth consider this as transitory employment and accumulate skill and capital with a view to establishing their own enterprise or joining skilled employment. While young women are in general found to be less likely than young men to seek exit out of street based self-employment, education increases the likelihood that young women aspire for a change in their employment situation. Youth with better-off parents back home and those with larger network in their new residence are more likely to change their current occupation. |
| Keywords: | Informal employment; youth migration; youth unemployment; Africa; Ethiopia |
| JEL: | J20 J60 O15 O17 |
| Date: | 2015–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nlsclt:2015_004&r=mig |
| By: | Trevor Tombe; Xiaodong Zhu |
| Abstract: | We study how misallocation due to goods- and labour-market frictions affect aggregate productivity in China. Combining unique data with a general equilibrium model of internal and international trade, and migration across regions and sectors, we quantify the magnitude and consequences of trade and migration costs. The costs were high in 2000, but declined afterward. The decline accounts for roughly two-fifths of aggregate labour productivity growth in China between 2000 and 2005. Reductions in internal rather than international costs are particularly important. Despite the decline, migration costs are still high and potential gains from further reform are large. |
| Keywords: | migration, internal trade, spatial misallocation, gains from trade, aggregate productivity, China |
| JEL: | F1 F4 R1 O4 |
| Date: | 2015–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tor:tecipa:tecipa-542&r=mig |
| By: | Jedwab,Remi Camille; Christiaensen,Luc; Gindelsky,Marina |
| Abstract: | Developing countries have urbanized rapidly since 1950. To explain urbanization, standard models emphasize rural-urban migration, focusing on rural push factors (agricultural modernization and rural poverty) and urban pull factors (industrialization and urban-biased policies). Using new historical data on urban birth and death rates for seven countries from Industrial Europe (1800?1910) and thirty-five developing countries (1960?2010), this paper argues that a non-negligible part of developing countries? rapid urban growth and urbanization may also be linked to demographic factors, such as rapid internal urban population growth, or an urban push. High urban natural increase in today?s developing countries follows from lower urban mortality, relative to Industrial Europe, where higher urban deaths offset urban births. This compounds the effects of migration and displays strong associations with urban congestion, providing additional insight into the phenomenon of urbanization without growth. |
| Keywords: | Pro-Poor Growth,National Urban Development Policies&Strategies,Population Policies,Regional Urban Development,Urban Housing and Land Settlements |
| Date: | 2015–06–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7333&r=mig |