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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Kreickemeier, Udo; Wrona, Jens |
| Abstract: | We develop a model to explain two-way migration of high-skilled individuals between countries that are similar in their economic characteristics. High-skilled migration results from the combination of workers whose abilities are private knowledge, and a production technology that gives incentives to firms for hiring workers of similar ability. In the presence of migration cost, high-skilled workers self-select into the group of migrants. The laissez-faire equilibrium features too much migration, explained by a negative migration externality. We also show that for sufficiently low levels of migration cost the optimal level of migration, while smaller than in the laissez-faire equilibrium, is strictly positive. Finally, we extend our model into different directions to capture stylized facts in the data and show that our baseline results also hold in these more complex modelling environments. |
| Keywords: | International Migration,Skilled Workers,Positive Assortative Matching |
| JEL: | D82 F22 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:dicedp:200&r=mig |
| By: | Andersson Joona, Pernilla (SOFI, Stockholm University); Lanninger, Alma W. (SOFI, Stockholm University); Sundström, Marianne (SOFI, Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | This paper is an early evaluation of the Swedish Establishment Reform which was enacted in 2010 with the goal of facilitating and speeding up the integration of refugees and their family into the labor market and the society. From December 1, 2010 the reform transferred the responsibility for the integration of newly-arrived refugees from the municipalities to the government funded Public Employment Service through which those eligible would get an establishment plan and a coach. The reform was motived by concern over the low employment level and slow integration of refugees. Our approach is to compare the outcomes of the treatment group, which took part in establishment activities and arrived between December 1, 2010 and December 31, 2011, to those of the comparison group, which arrived in the eleven months preceding the Reform and participated in municipal introduction programs, controlling for a rich set of observables, including country of birth and date of residence permit. Outcomes are measured in terms of employment and earnings in 2012 for the treatment group and in 2011 for the comparison group. Our data comes from registers held by Statistics Sweden and the Public Employment Service and covers all immigrants. Although there are good reasons to expect positive effects of the Reform we find no significant difference in employment or earnings between the treatment group and the comparison group. |
| Keywords: | integration, refugees, labor market policy, treatment effect, employment, earnings, caseworkers |
| JEL: | J15 J61 J68 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9496&r=mig |
| By: | Slotwinski, Michaela (University of Basel); Stutzer, Alois (University of Basel) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the vote on the Swiss minaret initiative as a natural experiment to identify the causal effect of negative attitudes towards immigrants on foreigners' location choices and thus indirectly on their utility. Based on a regression discontinuity design with unknown discontinuity points and administrative data on the population of foreigners, we find that the probability of their moving to a municipality that unexpectedly expressed strong reservations decreases initially by about 60 percent. The effect levels off over a period of about 5 months. Consistent with a reduction in the identity utility for immigrants in general, the reaction is not confined to Muslims, whereby high-skilled foreigners seem to be most sensitive to the newly revealed reservations. |
| Keywords: | attitudes, foreigners, identity utility, location choice, RDD |
| JEL: | D83 J61 R23 Z13 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9497&r=mig |
| By: | Vahan Sargsyan |
| Abstract: | Differential treatment towards minority groups in labor markets may be both a result of a governmental registration system that foster unequal rights based on the origins of individuals, and a result of a disadvantageous attitude of both local employers and the general population towards non-locals. We test for differential treatment in the Chinese labor market towards rural migrants with and without urban registration, using data from the Rural to Urban Migration Survey in China. The findings indicate that despite its often assumed large impact on the differential treatment towards rural migrants, the type of household registration (hukou) is not entirely responsible for the local-migrant differences in total hourly incomes which are not attributable to personal characteristics. The results suggest that even the complete abolishment of the hukou system may at most eliminate only a portion of the disadvantageous treatment towards rural female migrants which is not attributable to differences in personal characteristics, and may even have no measurable impact on rural male migrants working in the paid-employment sector in Chinese urban labor markets. |
| Keywords: | rural migrants; hukou registration; hukou conversion; unexplainable treatment; total hourly compensation; |
| JEL: | J71 J78 O15 R23 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp548&r=mig |
| By: | Alper Duman (Department of Economics, Izmir University of Economics); Idil Göksel (Department of Economics, Izmir University of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to investigate the network effect on the probability of finding employment. This paper uses a specific data set from the Izmir region, prepared by the Turkish Statistical Institute for a specific project carried out by Izmir University of Economics in cooperation with the Izmir Chamber of Commerce, the Izmir branch of theTurkish Statistical Institute and the Turkish Labour Institute. Izmir, the third biggest city in Turkey, attracts both skilled and unskilled migrants, and has become one of the preferred destinations for migrants. The relative success of migrants in employment relates to their use of job search channels. We differentiate job search channels into formal/individual, and network forms. The latter refers to the job referral or job information diffusion through relatives and acquaintances. We find that migrants benefit from a comparative advantage in the usage of the network channel. Moreover, this network advantage is more robust for less educated workers. |
| Keywords: | Social networks, migrants, Izmir |
| JEL: | J15 J61 D83 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:izm:wpaper:1502&r=mig |
| By: | Bjerke, Lina (Jönköping International Business School); Mellander, Charlotta (Jönköping International Business School & Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies (CESIS)) |
| Abstract: | Two major challenges in Europe’s rural areas are an ageing population and the diminishing share of human capital. While this pattern is not new, the effects are becoming increasingly visible and acute. The long-term loss of younger individuals has in many ways “drained” the labor market and the economic market power of rural areas. This is the focus of our research. Using micro data covering the entire Swedish population, we identify all university graduates from the year 2001. We analyze them with respect to whether they live in a rural or urban region before starting university and where they live at two points in time after graduation. We use a series of multinomial logit regressions to determine what factors affect their short-term and long-term choices of location. We find only minor differences on between these two time-perspectives with a few important exceptions related to civil status and background. |
| Keywords: | urban-rural youth migration; highly educated |
| JEL: | I25 R00 |
| Date: | 2015–11–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0424&r=mig |
| By: | Gibson, John (University of Waikato); McKenzie, David (World Bank); Rohorua, Halahingano (University of Waikato); Stillman, Steven (University of Otago) |
| Abstract: | We examine the long-term impacts of international migration by comparing immigrants who had successful ballot entries in a migration lottery program, and first moved almost a decade ago, with people who had unsuccessful entries into those same ballots. The long-term gain in income is found to be similar in magnitude to the gain in the first year, despite migrants upgrading their education and changing their locations and occupations. This results in large sustained benefits to their immediate family, who have substantially higher consumption, durable asset ownership, savings, and dietary diversity. In contrast we find no measureable impact on extended family. |
| Keywords: | international migration, natural experiment, assimilation, household well-being |
| JEL: | F22 O15 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9492&r=mig |
| By: | Emma Aguila (University of Southern California); Alma Vega (University of Pennsylvania) |
| Abstract: | For decades scholars have attempted to understand the effects of immigration on the U.S. Social Security system. To date, this research has been primarily limited to migrants in the U.S. and does not consider those who return to their countries of origin. Immigrants often pay OASDI taxes using illegitimate Social Security numbers and may return to their home countries without collecting U.S. Social Security benefits. In this study, we analyze the socioeconomic and labor characteristics, health, migration histories, and transitions to retirement of male Mexican return migrants who contributed to the U.S. Social Security system. Using the 2003 and 2012 Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS), we find that in 2012, 32 percent of male return migrants reported having contributed to the U.S. Social Security system but only five percent of those who contributed, received or expected to receive benefits. Those who reported having contributed were more likely to have completed college, spent more years in the U.S., and were more likely to be U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents than those who did not contribute. We also find that return migrants who spent one to nine years in the U.S. had a lower probability of transitioning to retirement between 2003 and 2012 than those had never been to the U.S. In contrast, those who spent 20 or more years in the U.S. had a higher probability of transitioning to retirement. |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mrr:papers:wp324&r=mig |
| By: | Adsera, Alicia (Princeton University); Ferrer, Ana (University of Waterloo) |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes to the analysis of the integration of immigrants in the Canadian labour market by focusing in two relatively new dimensions. We combine the large samples of the restricted version of the Canadian Census (1991-2006) with both a new measure of linguistic proximity of the immigrant's mother tongue to that of the destination country, and with information of the occupational skills embodied in the jobs immigrants hold. This allows us to assess the role that language plays in the labour market performance of immigrants and to better study their career progression relative to the native born. Weekly wage differences between immigrants and the native born are driven mostly by penalties associated with immigrants' lower returns to social skills, but not to analytical or manual skills. Interestingly, low linguistic proximity between origin and destination language imposes larger wage penalties to the university-educated, and significantly affects the status of the jobs they hold. The influence of linguistic proximity on the skill content of jobs immigrants hold over time also varies by the educational level of the migrant. We also show that immigrants settling in Quebec and whose mother tongue is close to French have similar or better labour market outcomes (relative to native-born residents in Quebec) than immigrants with close linguistic proximity to English settling outside Quebec (relative to native born residents in the rest of Canada). However, since wages in Quebec are lower than elsewhere, immigrants in Quebec earn less in absolute terms than those residing elsewhere. |
| Keywords: | migration, occupational skills, linguistic ability, wage assimilation, linguistic proximity |
| JEL: | F22 J24 J31 J5 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9499&r=mig |
| By: | David Love (Williams College); Lucie Schmidt (Williams College) |
| Abstract: | The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act had a profound impact on the demographic and skill composition of immigrants arriving in the U.S. A large literature has investigated the relative earnings of immigrants and natives, but much less is known about relative wealth accumulation and the preparation of immigrants for retirement. This paper compares the retirement preparation of older immigrants to that of native-born households using an annualized comprehensive measure of available resources. We find that immigrants have less wealth overall, but that they appear to be drawing down resources at a slower rate. We attempt to make sense of the trends in annualized wealth with the help of a lifecycle framework that incorporates uncertain longevity, bequests, risk in retirement resources, as well as endogenous housing wealth. Simulations from the model indicate that it is difficult to match the observed patterns in annualized wealth without the combination of both an explicit bequest motive and an explicit treatment of housing choice. These patterns mask a good deal of heterogeneity, however, in terms of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Some of the largest differences within immigrants occur along the margins of race and ethnicity, as well as the number of years since arrival. The evidence suggests that the typical immigrant is relatively well situated in retirement, but that more recent immigrants have low levels of total resources and are likely to have difficulty maintaining adequate levels of spending in retirement. |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mrr:papers:wp328&r=mig |
| By: | Eleonora Costantini; Antonella Cavallo; Natalia Naznarova |
| Abstract: | The contemporary migrations are complex social phenomena affecting "every element, every aspect, every sphere and every representation of the economic, social, political and cultural system" of the society (Sayad, 1999). The multidisciplinary approach is the most appropriate, as it allows to use different tools to better understand the phenomena. The legislative contextualization as well as the use of sociological and economic theories are essentials to study the effects of migration. This paper analyses the different aspects of migration phenomenon in the labour market. The data used in this paper comes from the 2nd and 3rd survey ICESmo, which is a large work on the economic conditions of households living in the province of Modena realized by "Centro di Analisi delle Politiche Pubbliche" (CAPP - Centre for the Analysis of Public Policies). The analysis shows that the trends at the national level are observed also in the province of Modena. For example: the presence of migratory chains, the phenomenon of segregation across sectors and the over-education among immigrant workers. Moreover, it is observed a lower probability of being employed between foreign and Italian citizens. Finally, evidence shows the absence of income assimilation; the theory that a long presence of immigrants in the host labour market can improve their performance in terms of income. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Labour Market, Income Assimilation |
| JEL: | J15 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:cappmo:0122&r=mig |
| By: | Leticia Arroyo Abad (Middlebury College); Blanca S‡nschez-Alonso (Universidad CEU-San Pablo) |
| Abstract: | The city of Buenos Aires is an extreme case in immigration history since the native workers were less than one third of the labour force. This paper is the first attempt to present empirical evidence on occupations and wages for Buenos Aires ca. 1890s. Using a large dataset, we look at the performance of Argentineans vis-ˆ-vis the largest two immigrant groups, the Italians and the Spaniards. We find that, on average, Argentineans enjoyed a higher wages; however, this group did not dominate all skill levels. We find skill specialisation by nationality. Despite higher literacy levels and the language advantage, Spaniards did not outperform Italians when looking at earnings and access to homeownership. With deeper and older ties to the community, Italians formed richer networks that helped their fellow countrymen in the host labour market. |
| Keywords: | migration, wages, labour force, Buenos Aires |
| JEL: | N36 F22 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hes:wpaper:0088&r=mig |
| By: | Fairlie, Robert |
| Abstract: | A growing body of research on immigrant entrepreneurship has developed over the past several years. In this chapter we provide an overview of the economics literature with respect to some of the most fundamental immigrant entrepreneurship issues as well as the empirical methods and data used. We review this literature through the lens of estimating the net contribution made by immigrant entrepreneurs to the host economy. Immigration is a very hotly debated topic because of the contrasting concerns over lowering wages for existing workers, increasingly public assistance rolls, security and changing the demographic makeup of host countries, and the need for less- and high-skilled workers, supporting an aging population, insourcing instead of outsourcing labor, and family reunification. Central to the debate is whether immigrants provide a net positive or net negative contribution to host economy. Partly fueled by this debate, an extremely large literature in economics examines the separate impacts of immigrants on various parts of the economy such as the labor market, public assistance, tax system, and educational systems. Since much of the attention of the relevant research has been on the United States, this will be the focus of our discussion. |
| Keywords: | Business, Social and Behavioral Sciences, immigration, entrepreneurship, business, self-employment, race, ethnicity |
| Date: | 2015–11–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:ucscec:qt6945t95k&r=mig |
| By: | Kaushal, Neeraj (Columbia University); Lu, Yao (Columbia University); Denier, Nicole (McGill University); Wang, Julia Shu-Huah (Columbia University); Trejo, Stephen (University of Texas at Austin) |
| Abstract: | We study the short-term trajectories of employment, hours worked, and real wages of immigrants in Canada and the U.S. using nationally representative longitudinal datasets covering 1996-2008. Models with person fixed effects show that on average immigrant men in Canada do not experience any relative growth in these three outcomes compared to men born in Canada. Immigrant men in the U.S., on the other hand, experience positive annual growth in all three domains relative to U.S. born men. This difference is largely on account of low-educated immigrant men, who experience faster or longer periods of relative growth in employment and wages in the U.S. than in Canada. We further compare longitudinal and cross-sectional trajectories and find that the latter over-estimate wage growth of earlier arrivals, presumably reflecting selective return migration. |
| Keywords: | U.S. immigrants, Canadian immigrants, economic assimilation, longitudinal data, immigration, employment, wages, comparative study |
| JEL: | J15 J3 J18 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9495&r=mig |
| By: | Molina Millán, Teresa (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) |
| Abstract: | To test whether transfers sent and received by regional migrants serve an insurance role, this paper estimates the causal impact of income shocks at a migrant's origin and destination location on the bilateral transfer of funds. Using rainfall shocks in rural Nicaragua, I find that migrants aged 15-21 years provide unilateral insurance to their origin household. Distinguishing by destination and economic activity I show that the level of insurance increases when migrants and households are exposed to less correlated shocks. In addition, I find evidence of bilateral insurance among rural migrants exposed to rainfall shocks with low levels of correlation with respect to shocks occurring at origin. |
| Keywords: | internal migration, remittances, risk, insurance, inter-households transfers, weather shocks |
| JEL: | O12 O15 F24 R23 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9494&r=mig |
| By: | Florinskaya, Yulia (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)); Mkrtchyan, Nikita (National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow); Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)); Maleva, Tatyana Mikhailovna (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)); Kirillova, M. K. (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)) |
| Abstract: | The paper analyses labor migration in Russia and its impact on national and regional labor markets. Emphasis is placed on two types of migration - internal, represented by Russians, engaged his career in regions other than their permanent residence, and external represented by foreigners working in Russia. The basis of the analysis - the data of the FMS of Russia, Rosstat, in the including regular surveys conducted on employment, expert evaluation. The brief analysis of policies regarding labor migration undertaken in recent years. The measures for the promotion of in-country spatial mobility of the population and in the field of external labor migration. |
| Keywords: | Russian economy, labor migration, labor market |
| JEL: | F22 J11 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rnp:ppaper:dok13&r=mig |
| By: | Thomas Kemeny; Abigail Cooke |
| Abstract: | Using comprehensive longitudinal matched employer-employee data for the U.S., this paper provides new evidence on the relationship between productivity and immigration spawned urban diversity. Existing empirical work has uncovered a robust positive correlation between productivity and immigrant diversity, supporting theory suggesting that diversity acts as a local public good that makes workers more productive by enlarging the pool of knowledge available to them, as well as by fostering opportunities for them to recombine ideas to generate novelty. This paper makes several empirical and conceptual contributions. First, it improves on existing empirical work by addressing various sources of potential bias, especially from unobserved heterogeneity among individuals, work establishments, and cities. Second, it augments identification by using longitudinal data that permits examination of how diversity and productivity co-move. Third, the paper seeks to reveal whether diversity acts upon productivity chiefly at the scale of the city or the workplace. Findings confirm that urban immigrant diversity produces positive and nontrivial spillovers for U.S. workers. This social return represents a distinct channel through which immigration generates broad-based economic benefits. |
| Keywords: | immigrants, diversity, productivity, spillovers, cities |
| JEL: | O4 R0 O18 F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:15-37&r=mig |
| By: | Fassio, Claudio; Kalantaryan, Sona; Venturini, Alessandra (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to analyse the role of migrants in innovation in Europe. We use Total Factor Productivity as a measure of innovation and focus on the three largest European countries – France, Germany and the United Kingdom – in the years 1994-2007. Unlike previous research, which mainly employs a regional approach, we analyse ù the link between migration and innovation at the sectoral level. This allows us to measure the direct contribution of migrants in the sector in which they are actually employed. Moreover, it allows a distinction between the real contribution of migrants to innovation from possible inter-sectoral complementarities, which might as well foster innovation. We control for the different components of human-capital, such as age, education and diversity of origin. To address the possible endogeneity of migration we draw on an instrumental variable strategy originally devised by Card (2001) and adapt it at the sector level The results show that overall migrants are relevant in all sectors, but some important differences emerge across sectors: highlyeducated migrants show a larger positive effect in the high-tech sectors, while middle- and loweducated ones are more relevant in manufacturing. The diversity of countries of origin contributes to innovation only in the services sectors, confirming that in empirical analyses at the regional or national level the diversity measure might capture the complementarity between sectors rather than the contribution of different national skills. |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:dipeco:201536&r=mig |
| By: | Kalfa, Eleni (University of Kent); Piracha, Matloob (University of Kent) |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the extent to which social contacts and ethnic concentration affect the education-occupation mismatch of natives and immigrants. Using Australian panel data and employing a dynamic random effects probit model, we show that social capital exacerbates the incidence of over-education, particularly for females. Furthermore, for the foreign-born, ethnic concentration significantly increases the incidence of over-education. Using an alternative index, we also show that social participation, friends and support and ethnic concentration are the main contributors in generating a mismatch, while reciprocity and trust does not seem to have any effect on over-education for both, immigrants and natives. Finally, we show that social networks are more beneficial for the relatively better educated. |
| Keywords: | social capital, ethnic concentration, over-education |
| JEL: | F22 J61 Z13 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9493&r=mig |
| By: | Congressional Budget Office |
| Abstract: | In recent years, policymakers have considered proposals to modify the nation’s immigration system. This report describes the factors CBO considers when it assesses the budgetary effects of proposed changes to immigration policy. The report details noncitizens’ eligibility for federal benefits and their tax liability, and the kinds of effects that changes in immigration policies could have on the federal budget. |
| JEL: | J11 J61 |
| Date: | 2015–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbo:report:498680&r=mig |
| By: | Chiswick, Barry R. (George Washington University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper I share my thoughts on immigration policy. As a social scientist it is appropriate to assess the consequences, the costs and benefits, of alternative immigration policies. The policies that a country adopts regarding immigration, however, should be the outcome of a political process which should be informed by, but not dictated by, social science research. What follows is a non-technical discussion of what I see as some of the key issues regarding immigration policies currently facing the United States and other technologically advanced economies. |
| Keywords: | skilled and low-skilled workers, immigration policy, immigrants, immigration |
| JEL: | F22 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izapps:pp108&r=mig |
| By: | Gianmarco Ottaviano; Giovanni Peri; Greg C. Wright |
| Abstract: | Two notable features of globalisation are the growth of immigration and the growth of international trade in services. Exploring links between these phenomena, Gianmarco Ottaviano, Giovanni Peri and Greg Wright find that immigrants play a key role in promoting UK exports of business and legal services - not just to their home countries but across the world. |
| Keywords: | immigration, services trade |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepcnp:459&r=mig |
| By: | Böhm, Sebastian |
| Abstract: | The massive movement of capital and labor in opposite directions is the most striking characteristic of economic integration of Eastern and Western Germany. Beyond that, wage-setting behavior during the early years of unification and massive public social transfers have affected the transition path of the Eastern economy. In this paper, I set up a two-region open economy model with capital and labor mobility, wage-setting behavior, and public social transfers to explain major empirical trends of the German integration episode. I show that the model is able to replicate aggregate migration pattern in unified Germany and that wage-setting behavior has delayed labor productivity convergence between both German regions, whereas public social transfers have reduced the effect of wage setting on East-West net migration. |
| Keywords: | Economic Integration; German Reunification; Capital Mobility; Migration |
| JEL: | F20 E60 H20 J61 |
| Date: | 2015–11–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fri:fribow:fribow00463&r=mig |
| By: | Wolfgang Nagl; Robert Lehmann |
| Keywords: | Migration costs; Distance; Foreign Employment |
| JEL: | F22 J15 J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa15p366&r=mig |
| By: | Aoki, Yu (University of Aberdeen); Santiago, Lualhati (Office for National Statistics, UK) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to identify the causal effect of English language skills on education, health and fertility outcomes of immigrants in England and Wales. We construct an instrument for language skills using age at arrival in the United Kingdom, exploiting the fact that young children learn languages more easily than older children and adults. Using a unique individual-level dataset that links 2011 census data to life event records for the population living in England and Wales, we find that better English language skills significantly lower the probability of having no qualifications and raise that of obtaining academic degrees, but do not affect child health and self-reported adult health. The impact of language on fertility outcomes is also considerable: Better English skills significantly delay the age at which a woman has her first child, lower the likelihood of becoming a teenage mother, and decrease fertility. |
| Keywords: | language skills, education, health, fertility |
| JEL: | I10 I20 J13 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9498&r=mig |