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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Platonova, Anna; Gény, Lydia Rosa |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a contextual analysis of the mutual relations between migration and women’s empowerment with the aim to facilitate the debate among stakeholders, including policymakers, practitioners and civil society in the Caribbean subregion on the role of migration as a means of empowerment for women. When contextualized in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, this debate should inform practical actions for the formulation of the Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration that will be adopted in 2018, and more broadly for sustainable development that will ensure that no one is left behind as Member States and other stakeholders strive towards achieving inclusive, fairer, and sustainable societies. |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col033:42491&r=mig |
| By: | Samuel Bazzi; Martin Fiszbein; Mesay Gebresilasse |
| Abstract: | In a classic 1893 essay, Frederick Jackson Turner argued that the American frontier promoted individualism. We revisit the Frontier Thesis and examine its relevance at the subnational level. Using Census data and GIS techniques, we track the frontier throughout the 1790-1890 period and construct a novel, county-level measure of historical frontier experience. We document skewed sex ratios and other distinctive demographics of frontier locations, as well as their greater individualism (proxied by infrequent children names). Many decades after the closing of the frontier, counties with longer historical frontier experience exhibit more prevalent individualism and opposition to redistribution and regulation. We take several steps towards a causal interpretation, including an instrumental variables approach that exploits variation in the speed of westward expansion induced by national immigration inflows. Using linked historical Census data, we identify mechanisms giving rise to a persistent frontier culture. Selective migration contributed to greater individualism, and frontier conditions may have further shaped behavior and values. We provide evidence suggesting that rugged individualism may be rooted in its adaptive advantage on the frontier and the opportunities for upward mobility through effort. |
| JEL: | D72 H2 N31 N91 P16 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23997&r=mig |
| By: | Magdalena M. Ulceluse |
| Abstract: | The paper analyses the effect of employment protection legislation on immigrant self- employment rates, using OECD indicators on the strictness of employment protection legislation (EPL). As migrants are outsiders in the labour market, the effect of employment protection on their probability of finding a job should be most likely negative, even if the net effect of employment protection on aggregate employment is unclear. We find no significant effects of EPL of migrant self-employment rates, in a multivariate context. |
| Keywords: | immigrant self-employment, employment protection legislation |
| JEL: | J81 J88 J15 |
| Date: | 2017–11–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cel:dpaper:46&r=mig |
| By: | Magdalena M. Ulceluse |
| Abstract: | The paper contributes to existing debates concerning the effectiveness of immigration policies, by investigating the particular case of transitional arrangements implemented during the European Union enlargement rounds of 2004 and 2007. A number of authors have argued that instead of deterring immigration, the arrangements have changed the channels EU8 and EU2 migrants have chosen to enter the country of destination, by becoming self-employed. Self- employed individuals were not subjected to restrictions. Our results suggest that EU2 migrants have indeed turned to self-employment as a way to circumvent the restrictions, and point to a substitution effect in the case of EU8 migrants. The results have broader research and policy implications, revealing the importance of considering the effect immigration policies have in shaping the volume and skill composition of migrants, as well as their labour market trajectories and subsequent economic activities. |
| Keywords: | transitional arrangements, immigration policy, immigrant self-employment, EU enlargement, EU mobility |
| JEL: | J15 J18 J61 J68 |
| Date: | 2017–11–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cel:dpaper:47&r=mig |
| By: | Dries Lens; Ive Marx; SunÄ ica Vujić |
| Abstract: | This paper looks at how immigrants who arrived between 2002 and 2010 have fared in the Belgian labour market, differentiating by reason for migration. We use longitudinal data on immigrants’ employment trajectories, considering also their potential reliance on social assistance and unemployment benefits. The analysis shows that it takes (former) asylum seekers significantly longer to find work as compared to other immigrant categories. After a transition phase of low labour market participation and relatively high social assistance dependence, asylum seekers catch up to some extent, reaching levels of employment of about 50% after ten years of residence. However, asylum seekers still show higher rates of unemployment insurance and social assistance dependence as compared to other immigrant categories. In addition, asylum seekers who do work tend to do so in certain occupations and in jobs that are below their skill levels. They are also more often to be found in temporary contracts. These findings indicate the importance of heightened efforts to ensure the socio-economic integration of asylum seekers. The same holds true for family immigrants who account for the bulk of migration to Belgium and who have similar results as asylum seekers in the long run. |
| Keywords: | migration, labor market policy |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdl:wpaper:1710&r=mig |
| By: | CHABÉ-FERRET Bastien; MACHADO Joël; WAHBA Jackline |
| Abstract: | Using a unique French dataset, we analyze the relationship between remigration intentions and several immigrants' behaviors in the host and origin countries addressing the potential endogeneity of remigration intentions. We also investigate the potential trade-off and complementarities between various immigrants' investment behaviors. We _find that temporary migrants are more likely to invest in the country of origin but less likely to invest in the host country. Moreover, our results suggest a trade-off between immigrants' investment in the home and in the host country. |
| Keywords: | Temporary migration; intention to leave; return intention; remittances; investment; house ownership; language |
| JEL: | F22 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:cepswp:2017-17&r=mig |
| By: | Martin Guzi |
| 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: | 2017–10–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cel:dpaper:45&r=mig |
| By: | Netz, Nicolai; Parey, Matthias; Ruhose, Jens; Waldinger, Fabian |
| Abstract: | We measure selection among high-skilled emigrants from Germany using predicted earnings. Migrants to less equal countries are positively selected relative to non-migrants, while migrants to more equal countries are negatively selected, consistent with the prediction in Borjas (1987). Positive selection to less equal countries reflects university quality and grades, and negative selection to more equal countries reflects university subject and gender. Migrants to the United States are highly positively selected and concentrated in STEM fields. Our results highlight the relevance of the Borjas model for high-skilled individuals when credit constraints and other migration barriers are unlikely to be binding. |
| Keywords: | emigrants; high-skilled; migrant selection; migrants |
| JEL: | F22 I23 J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12403&r=mig |
| By: | Christl, Michael; Köppl-Turyna, Monika; Gnan, Phillipp |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes wage differences between natives and immigrants in Austria. First, we show that for both groups, literacy skills are an important determinant of the hourly wage. In the second step, we show that differences in proficiency with respect to literacy can explain more than three log points of the total wage gap of 9.7 log points between natives and immigrants. When adding literacy skills to the wage decomposition, the discriminatory part vanishes completely, suggesting that the wage difference between immigrants and natives in Austria can be to a large extent explained. Furthermore, we account for a possible sample selection bias. After controlling for literacy skills, the unexplained part of the gap becomes statistically insignificant. The importance of literacy skills in explaining wage differences between natives and immigrants is robust across several sensitivity tests. |
| Keywords: | wage,decomposition,gap,immigrants,natives,Austria |
| JEL: | J71 J15 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:agawps:12&r=mig |
| By: | Frédéric Docquier (FNRS & IRES, Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium), and FERDI (France)); Aysit Tansel (Middle East Technical University (Turkey), IZA (Germany) and ERF (Egypt)); Riccardo Turati (IRES, Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium)) |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically investigates whether emigrants from MENA countries self-select on cultural traits such as religiosity and gender-egalitarian attitudes. To do so, we use Gallup World Poll data on individual opinions and beliefs, migration aspirations, short-run migration plans, and preferred destination choices. We find that individuals who intend to emigrate to OECD, high-income countries exhibit significantly lower levels of religiosity than the rest of the population. They also share more gender-egalitarian views, although the effect only holds among the young (aged 15 to 30), among single women, and in countries with a Sunni minority. For countries mostly affected by Arab Spring, since 2011 the degree of cultural selection has decreased. Nevertheless, the aggregate effects of cultural selection should not be overestimated. Overall, self-selection along cultural traits has limited (albeit non negligible) effects on the average characteristics of the population left behind, and on the cultural distance between natives and immigrants in the OECD countries. |
| Keywords: | International migration, self-selection, cultural traits, gender-egalitarian attitudes, religiosity, MENA region. |
| JEL: | F22 J61 Z10 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:koc:wpaper:1716&r=mig |