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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Katharine Hall; Dorrit Posel |
| Abstract: | The disruption of family life is one of the important legacies of South Africa’s colonial and apartheid history. Families were undermined by deliberate strategies implemented through the pass laws, forced removals, urban housing policy, and the creation of the homelands. Despite the removal of legal restrictions on permanent urban settlement and family co-residence for Africans, patterns of internal and oscillating labour migration have endured, dual or stretched households continue to link urban and rural nodes, children have remained less urbanized than adults, and many grow up without co-resident parents. Although children are clearly affected by adult labour migration, they have tended to be ignored in the migration discourse. A focus on children provides an unusual lens for considering migration dynamics and can help to advance an understanding of the complexities of household arrangements and migration processes for families. In this mixed methods study, we use nationally representative panel data to investigate migration patterns when viewed from the perspective of children. We then draw on a detailed case study to reflect on the contributions of quantitative and qualitative data sources for enhancing our understanding of the migration strategies undertaken by families. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2018-8&r=mig |
| By: | James Ng |
| Abstract: | Economic research on labour migration in the developing world has traditionally focused on the role played by the remittances of overseas migrant labour in the sending country’s economy. Recently, due in no small part to the availability of rich microdata, more attention has been paid to the effects of migration on the lives of family members left behind. This paper examines how the temporary migration of parents for the sole purpose of work affects the health outcomes of children left behind using longitudinal data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS). The anthropomorphic measure of child health used, height-for-age, serves as a proxy for stunting. The evidence suggests that whether parental migration is beneficial or deleterious to child health depends on which parent moved. In particular, migration of the mother has an adverse effect on child height-for-age, reducing height-for-age Z-score by 0.5 standard deviations. This effect is not seen for father’s migration. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2018-10&r=mig |
| By: | Donato Romano; Silvio Traverso (Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the linkages between international migration and household food and nutrition security (FNS) from both a theoretical and an empirical perspective. First, building on the limited previous literature, the paper develops a unifying conceptual framework for identifying the main microeconomic channels through which international migration can affect household FNS. Second, adopting an encompassing definition of migrant households and using Bangladesh as case-study, it estimates the overall impact of international migration on household FNS. Third, by disentangling the overall effect, the paper assesses the importance of the various microeconomic channels, i.e. the change in the household structure, overseas remittances and the presence of returned migrants. The empirical strategy is based on a multiple treatment counterfactual framework, using a linearized propensity score matching technique. On the one hand, the estimates indicate that international migration has a positive impact on all FNS dimensions, allowing households to consume more food, to have access to more expensive food products and to shift towards a more diversified diet, richer in foods and micronutrients. On the other hand, the disentanglement of the impact corroborates the validity of the conceptual framework and supports the conclusion that the average effect of international migration on household FNS through all the identified microeconomic channels is always non-negative. Finally, the paper contributes to the literature on the so-called ‘Bangladesh paradox’ suggesting that international migration may have contributed to the exceptional progress in health and nutrition achieved by Bangladesh during a period of relatively poor economic growth. |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2017_12.rdf&r=mig |
| By: | Mahé, Clotilde (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | Do social policies affect migration? To answer this question, I exploit the random expansion of a publicly provided health care programme in Mexico, as well as the panel dimension and the timing of the Mexican Family Life Survey. Non-contributory health care is found to increase internal migration by freeing up care (time) constraints and strengthening household economic resilience in the face of health- related shocks. However, the alleviation of financial and time constraints is not significant enough to alter international migration, more costly by nature. Results point to the relevance of including both resident and non-resident household members in assessing the effects of social policies on labour market behaviours. They suggest that publicly provided health care complements, rather than substitutes, informal livelihood strategies in that relaxing binding financial and time constraints enables labour force detachment of working-age members in afiliated households. |
| Keywords: | Health insurance, migration, Mexico, occupational choice |
| JEL: | I13 I15 I18 I38 J21 O15 |
| Date: | 2017–11–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2017049&r=mig |
| By: | Massimiliano Bratti; Luca De Benedictis; Gianluca Santoni |
| Abstract: | In this paper we highlight a new complementary channel to the business and social network effect à la Rauch (2001) through which immigrants generate increased export flows from the regions in which they settle to their countries of origin: they can become entrepreneurs. Using very small-scale (NUTS-3) administrative data on immigrants’ location in Italy, the local presence of immigrant entrepreneurs (i.e. firms owned by foreign-born entrepreneurs) in the manufacturing sector, and on trade flows in manufacturing between Italian provinces and more than 200 foreign countries, we assess the causal relationship going from diasporas and immigrant entrepreneurs towards export flows. Both the size of the diaspora and the number of immigrant entrepreneurs have a positive, significant and economically meaningful effect on exports. In particular, we find that increasing the stock of (non-entrepreneur) immigrants by 10% would lead to a 1.7% increase in exports in manufacturing, while increasing the number of immigrant entrepreneurs in manufacturing by 10% would raise exports by about 0.6%. |
| Keywords: | Exports;immigrants;gravity;immigrant entrepreneurs;Italy |
| JEL: | F10 F14 F22 R10 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cii:cepidt:2018-01&r=mig |
| By: | David Jaeger (CUNY Graduate Center); Joakim Ruist (University of Gothenburg); Jan Stuhler (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) |
| Abstract: | A large literature exploits geographic variation in the concentration of immigrants to identify their impact on a variety of outcomes. To address the endogeneity of immigrants’ location choices, the most commonly-used instrument interacts national inflows by country of origin with immigrants’ pastgeographic distribution. We present evidence that estimates based on this “shift-share†instrument conflate the short- and long-run responses to immigration shocks. If the spatial distribution of immigrant inflows is stable over time, the instrument is likely to be correlated with ongoing responses to previous supply shocks. Estimates based on the conventional shift-share instrument are therefore unlikely to identify the short-run causal effect. We propose a “multiple instrumentation†procedure that isolates the spatial variation arising from changes in the country-of-origin composition at the national level and permits us to estimate separately the short- and long-run effects. Our results are a cautionary tale for a large body of empirical work, not just on immigration, that rely on shift-share instruments for causal inference. |
| JEL: | C36 J15 J21 J61 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1802&r=mig |
| By: | Andersson, Martin (Blekinge Institute of Technology); Larsson, Johan P. (Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum); Öner, Özge (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | We explore the effects of neighborhood-level ethnic enclaves on the propensity of immigrants to use business ownership as a vehicle to transcend from labor market outsiders to insiders. We exploit an exogenously partitioned grid of geocoded 1–by–1 km squares to approximate neighborhoods, and match it with Swedish full-population data from 2011–2012 to study immigrants from the Middle East. We demonstrate a robust tendency for people to leave non-employment for self-employment if many members of the neighborhood ethnic diaspora are business owners, while we observe weak effects emanating from business ownership in other groups. Net of these effects, the overall scale of the enclave, measured by local concentration of co-ethnic peers, negatively influences the propensity to become self-employed. The results are consistent with the argument that it is not the scale, but the quality of local ethnic enclaves that influence labor market outcomes for immigrants. |
| Keywords: | Ethnic enclave; Segregation; Immigrant entrepreneurship; Self-employment; Labor market sorting; Integration |
| JEL: | J15 L26 P25 |
| Date: | 2017–12–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1195&r=mig |
| By: | Luc Christiaensen; Joachim De Weerdt; Ravi Kanbur |
| Abstract: | Should public investment be targeted to big cities or to small towns, if the objective is to minimize national poverty? To answer this policy question we extend the basic Todaro-type model of rural-urban migration to the case of migration from rural areas to two potential destinations, secondary town and big city. We first derive conditions under which a poverty gradient from rural to town to city will exist as an equilibrium phenomenon. We then address the policy question and show how the answer depends on the migration response, where the poverty line lies relative to incomes in the three locations, and at times also the poverty index itself. In particular, we develop sufficient statistics for the policy decisions based on these income parameters and illustrate the empirical remit of the model with long running panel data from Kagera, Tanzania. Further, we show that the structure of the sufficient statistics is maintained in the case where the model is generalized to introduce heterogeneous workers and jobs. Overall, the findings confirm that, given migration responses, national poverty outcomes are not immune to whether urban employment generation takes place in the towns or the city. |
| Keywords: | Secondary Towns versus Big Cities, Poverty Reduction, Poverty Gradient, Todaro Model, Migration Equilibrium, Equilibrium Income Distribution |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lic:licosd:39517&r=mig |
| By: | Timothy J Hatton; Zachary Ward |
| Abstract: | This chapter focuses on the economic analysis of what has been called the age of mass migration, 1850 to 1913, and its aftermath up to 1940. This has captured the interest of generations of economic historians and is still a highly active area of research. Here we concentrate on migration from Europe to the New World as this is where the bulk of the literature lies. We provide an overview of this literature focusing on key topics: the determinants of migration, the development of immigration policy, immigrant selection and assimilation, and the economic effects of mass migration as well as its legacy through to the present day. We explain how what were once orthodoxies have been revisited and revised, and how changes in our understanding have been influenced by advances in methodology, which in turn have been made possible by the availability of new and more comprehensive data. Despite these advances some issues remain contested or unresolved and, true to cliometric tradition, we conclude by calling for more research. |
| Keywords: | Mass migration; the Atlantic economy; immigrants and emigrants. |
| JEL: | N31 N32 J61 F22 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:auu:hpaper:063&r=mig |
| By: | Benoît Schmutz (Ecole Polytechnique; CREST); Modibo Sidibé (Duke University; CREST) |
| Abstract: | We build a dynamic model of migrationwhere, in addition to usual mobility costs,workers face spatial frictions that decrease their ability to compete for distant job opportunities. We estimate the model on a matched employer-employee panel dataset describing labor market transitions within and between the 100 largest French cities. Our identification strategy is based on the premise that frictions affect the frequency of job transitions, while mobility costs impact the distribution of acceptedwages. We find that: (i) controlling for spatial frictions reduces mobility cost estimates by one order of magnitude; (ii) the urban wage premium is driven by better opportunities for local job-to-job transitions in larger cities; (iii) migration dramatically reduces lifetime inequalities due to initial location; (iv) labor mobility policies based on relocation subsidies are inefficient, unlike switching from nationwide to local minimum wages. |
| Keywords: | mobility costs; spatial frictions;migration; local labor markets |
| JEL: | J61 J64 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2017–12–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crs:wpaper:2017-48&r=mig |
| By: | Pinaki Chakraborty; Shatakshi Garg |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the patterns and trends in inter-state migration across Indian states and observes that migration is affected by demographic profile as well as the fiscal profile of states. Econometric estimation suggests that level of vertical federal transfers and its horizontal distribution has an impact on out-migration. To correct for the extant horizontal fiscal inequality across Indian states, the paper suggests a relatively more progressive transfer system and a developmental fiscal policy stance at the state level to reduce pressure of out-migration to prosperous regions of the country. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2018-4&r=mig |
| By: | Tamsin Barber |
| Abstract: | The Vietnamese refugee experience in the UK has been characteristically different from the broader international flows of Vietnamese ‘boat people’ to the West. With no pre-existing Vietnamese community in the UK, largely composed of the rural poor from northern Vietnam, this numerically small community has remained largely invisible in British society. London houses over half of the UK Vietnamese population and the London Vietnamese communities are notoriously heterogeneous, fragmented, and divided according to political ideology, refugee wave, social class, ethnicity, geographical location, and social origins. These factors have translated into differential access to/proximity to local ethnic and co-ethnic labour markets and services, opportunities for self-employment, ethnic and transnational networks, political representation, community organization, public service provision, and belonging. This article explores how these various layers have worked together to produce divergent outcomes for these population fragments across London. Attention is paid to variation across areas of higher population concentration in East London (Lewisham and Hackney) and the more dispersed North and West London populations. In addition to exploring socioeconomic features of integration, this article also reflects upon how the broader social status of Vietnamese refugees in British society has offered both opportunities and constraints for their success. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2018-2&r=mig |
| By: | Francesca Borgonovi (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development); Artur Pokropek (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | The paper examines between-country differences in the mechanisms through which education could promote generalised trust using data from 29 countries participating in the OECD’s Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC). Results indicate that education is strongly associated with generalised trust and that a large part of this association is mediated by individuals’ literacy skills, income and occupational prestige. However, education gradients in levels of generalised trust and in the extent to which they are due to social stratification mechanisms or cognitive skills mechanisms vary across countries. Social diversity, indicated by the presence and diversity of migrant populations and levels of income inequality, explain between country differences in the direct and indirect effects of education on trust. In particular, the relationship between literacy skills and generalised trust is stronger in the presence of more and more diverse migrant populations but is weaker in the presence of greater income inequality. |
| Keywords: | Trust, Education, PIAAC, Survey of Adult Skills, Resilience, Inequality, Diversity |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc108582&r=mig |
| By: | Eric Schuss |
| Abstract: | This paper uses information on the legal status upon arrival to study long-term labor market effects, whereas selection and potential outmigration are taken into account by a large set of methods. I find that immigrants arrived with a job commitment in Germany achieve a longterm income advantage of 18.6% relative to other migrant groups, while language skills and ethnic networks can be excluded as transmission channels. Thus, a better linkage between job vacancies in the host country and the labor supply of potential migrants in the home country prevents mismatches and unrealistic expectations of potential migrants towards the host country. |
| Keywords: | integration, migration, and transnationalization; work and employment; income, taxes, and social security |
| JEL: | F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp952&r=mig |
| By: | Shirinzade, Natig |
| Abstract: | Ethnic and international conflicts have turned into a real headache for the modern world. The confrontations that have begun between the nations have escalated into serious conflicts that take the lives of thousands of innocent children, women and old people every year. Such conflicts create significant problems not only at the social level, but also at the political and economic level. If a decisive measure to resolve such conflicts has not been taken in a timely manner, the damage may prove irreparable. Our Institute of Global Economic Problems, represented by Natig Shirinzade, Ph.D. and Masters in Economics, Founder and Head of the Institute of Global Economic Problems decided to address this issue in greater detail and highlight the problem of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Being citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan, we are well acquainted with all the problems caused by interethnic conflicts and the subsequent flow of refugees and temporarily resettled. And therefore, we consider it our duty to cover such topics and bring them to the public court. This is one of the reasons for creating this organization - to provide people with reliable and verified information in order to help them overcome the difficulties of the Epoch of Globalization. |
| Keywords: | Refugees,Ethnic conflicts,Labour market,Economic impact |
| JEL: | F50 H56 J15 J17 J61 J62 J64 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:173173&r=mig |
| By: | Peter Huber (WIFO); Stepan Mikula |
| Abstract: | We analyse the impact of social capital on the willingness to migrate in 28 post-communist and five western European comparator countries using the Life in Transition Survey. We find substantially lower levels of professional social capital among the older cohorts in post-communist than in the comparator countries. In addition, differences in endowments with professional social capital between the post-communist and comparator countries explain 1.5 to 3.9 percentage points of the total 4.0 to 17.0 percentage points difference in the willingness to migrate between the two country groups. Differences in local social capital, by contrast, contribute only little to explaining these differences. Furthermore, the robust positive relationship between the willingness to migrate and professional social capital is mainly due to a strong correlation between these variables among the young in all country groups. We therefore argue that future research should focus on explaining differences in the impact of social capital on migration decisions of different age groups. |
| Keywords: | Migration, social capital, transition countries |
| Date: | 2018–01–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2018:i:550&r=mig |
| By: | Pierre-Philippe Combes (GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - ENS Lyon - École normale supérieure - Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet [Saint-Étienne] - Université de Lyon - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IEP Paris - Sciences Po Paris - Institut d'études politiques de Paris); Sylvie Démurger (GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - ENS Lyon - École normale supérieure - Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet [Saint-Étienne] - Université de Lyon - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Shi Li (School of Economics and Business Administration - Beijing Normal University) |
| Keywords: | agglomeration economies, migration, wage disparities, urban development, cities |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01638247&r=mig |