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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Lange, Martin; Pfeiffer, Friedhelm |
| Abstract: | This study analyses the selection of recently arrived asylum seekers from Middle Eastern and African countries in Germany. The findings suggest that, on average, asylum seekers have 22 percent more years of schooling - the indicator used for human capital - when compared to same-aged persons from their country of origin. In addition, it is shown that asylum seekers in the sample often accumulated rather low or relatively high levels of schooling compared to same-aged persons in their countries of origin. This phenomenon is even more pronounced for parental education. It is demonstrated that the indicators of individual and parental human capital influence short-run integration outcomes in Germany, while work experience in the home country does not. The paper discusses potential economic explanations for the findings on immigrant selection and integration outcomes. |
| Keywords: | immigrant selection,asylum seekers,human capital,family background,integration |
| JEL: | F22 J15 J24 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:18040&r=mig |
| By: | Giesing, Yvonne; Battisti, Michele; Laurentsyeva, Nadzeya |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the causal effect of a job search support programme on the employment of asylum seekers in Germany. Asylum seekers typically need longer than other migrants to be successful in the host country's labour market. Individual skills such as education and labour market experience certainly play an important role. In addition to that, the job search process itself requires skills and institutional knowledge, which may be scarce among some groups, e.g. among newly arrived immigrants, non-economic migrants in particular. We believe the role of these frictions is an aspect that is very much understudied. We attempt to provide a rigorous evaluation of a program that aims at easing matching frictions. In particular, we design a field experiment to evaluate whether easing matching frictions affects the labour market integration of recent refugees in Germany. We interview around 400 job-seeking refugees attending job-counseling sessions of a Munich-based NGO. The participants are then randomly allocated to the treatment group and the control group. For the treatment group, the NGO identifies potentially suitable employers and, upon agreement of a job-seeker, sends a CV to those employers. This treatment can isolate the effect of frictions concerning the job search process, while it has no effect on the underlying skills of participants. We track individuals over time by conducting follow-up surveys of both the treatment group and the control group every six months. Preliminary results based on a limited sample show positive and significant treatment effects on employment after twelve months. Working with the full dataset, we will investigate the heterogeneity of treatment effects across skill groups and legal status, and the possible tradeoff between early employment and match quality. |
| Keywords: | Refugees,labour market integration,matching frictions,field experiment |
| JEL: | F22 J61 J68 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc18:181522&r=mig |
| By: | Karine Torosyan (International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi); Norberto Pignatti (International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi; IZA, Bonn); Maksym Obrizan (Kyiv School of Economics, Kyiv) |
| Abstract: | Internally displaced people (IDPs) constitute a serious economic, social and cultural problem for many countries, including countries in transition. Despite the importance of the problem, there are only a handful of previous studies investigating the issue of labor market outcomes of IDPs. We aim to fill this gap in the literature using 13 years of Integrated Household Surveys over 2004-2016 from Georgia, which experienced large flows of internal migrants from the early 1990s until now. Our analyses indicate that the labor market outcomes of IDPs are much worse than those of local residents. Specifically, IDPs are 3.9 to 11.2 percentage points less likely to be in the labor force, depending on the period and duration of IDP status. IDPs are also up to 11.6 percentage points more likely to be unemployed, sometimes even after 20 years of forced displacement. Finally, IDPs residing in a locality for more than 5 years receive persistently lower wages than local residents with similar characteristics, with the gap widening over time, reaching some 16 percentage points in the last period under analysis. |
| Keywords: | conflict, internally displaced people, IDPs, labor market outcomes, transition countries |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tbs:wpaper:18-002&r=mig |
| By: | Anda David (Agence Française de Développement & DIAL); Mohamed Ali Marouani (UMR « Développement et Société », IEDES / Université Paris1-Panthéon-Sorbonne, PSL, Université Paris-Dauphine, LEDa, IRD UMR DIAL); Charbel Nahas (Former Minister of Labor and Telecom, Lebanon); Björn Nilsson (PSL, Université Paris-Dauphine, LEDa, UMR DIAL) |
| Abstract: | In this article, we investigate the effects of a massive displacement of workers from a war-torn economy on the economy of a neighboring country. Applying a general equilibrium approach to the Lebanese economy, we explore effects from various components of the crisis on the labor market, the production apparatus, and macroeconomic indicators. Along with previous literature, our findings suggest limited or no adverse effects on high-skilled native workers, but a negative impact on the most vulnerable Lebanese workers is found. When aid takes the form of investment subsidies, significantly better growth and labor market prospects arise, recalling the necessity of complementing humanitarian aid with development aid to succeed in achieving long-term objectives. This may however not be politically viable in a context where refugees are considered as temporary. |
| Keywords: | labor markets, macroeconomic impacts of refugees, Syrian crisis, Lebanon |
| JEL: | E17 F22 J15 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dia:wpaper:dt201814&r=mig |
| By: | Stefano BRESCHI; Francesco LISSONI; Ernest MIGUELEZ |
| Abstract: | Based on an original dataset linking patent data and biographical information for a large sample of US immigrant inventors with Indian names and surnames, specialized in ICT technologies, we investigate the rate and determinants of return migration. For each individual in the dataset, we both estimate the year of entry in the United States, the likely entry channel (work or education), and the permanence spell up to either the return to India or right truncation. By means of survival analysis, we then provide exploratory estimates of the probability of return migration as a function of the conditions at migration (age, education, patenting record, migration motives, and migration cohort) as well as of some activities undertaken while abroad (education and patenting). We find both evidence of negative self-selection with respect to educational achievements in the US and of positive self-selection with respect to patenting propensity. Based on the analysis of time-dependence of the return hazard ratios, return work migrants appear to be negatively self-selected with respect to unobservable skills acquired abroad, while evidence for education migrants is less conclusive. |
| Keywords: | immigration, innovation, inventor data, patent data |
| JEL: | F22 O15 O31 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:grt:wpegrt:2018-20&r=mig |
| By: | Karadja, Mounir (Department of Economics); Prawitz, Erik (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | We study the political effects of mass emigration to the United States in the 19th century using data from Sweden. To instrument for total emigration over several decades, we exploit severe local frost shocks that sparked an initial wave of emigration, interacted with within-country travel costs. Our estimates show that emigration substantially increased the local demand for political change, as measured by labor movement membership, strike participation and voting. Emigration also led to de facto political change, increasing welfare expenditures as well as the likelihood of adopting more inclusive political institutions. |
| Keywords: | Migration; Political change; Labor mobility; Economic history |
| JEL: | D72 J61 P16 |
| Date: | 2018–10–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1237&r=mig |
| By: | Steinhardt, Max F. (Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg) |
| Abstract: | Integration of immigrants is a two-way process involving immigrants and the host country society. An underexplored question is how events of xenophobic violence in the host country affect the integration of immigrants. For this purpose, I exploit a unique series of anti-immigrant attacks in the early 1990s in West Germany. Using a difference-in-differences matching strategy, I find that macro exposure to xenophobic violence has an impact on several dimensions of socio-economic integration of immigrants. In particular, it reduces subjective well-being and increases return intentions, while it reduces investment in German language skills among those staying in Germany. From a policy perspective, this paper shows that anti-immigrant violence can have indirect costs by impairing the integration of those immigrants who belong to the target group of xenophobic attacks. |
| Keywords: | immigration, integration, xenophobia, hate crimes |
| JEL: | A14 J15 J61 |
| Date: | 2018–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11781&r=mig |
| By: | Andrea Morrison; Sergio Petralia; Dario Diodato |
| Abstract: | More than 30 million people migrated to the US between the 1850s and 1920s. In the order of thousands became inventors and patentees. Drawing on an original dataset of immigrant inventors to the US, we assess the city-level impact of immigrants patenting and their potential crowding out effects on US native inventors. Our study contributes to the different strands of literature in economics, innovation studies and economic geography on the role of immigrants as carriers of knowledge. Our results show that immigrants? patenting is positively associated with total patenting. We find also that immigrant inventors crowd-in US inventors. The growth in US inventors? productivity can be explained also in terms of knowledge spill-overs generate by immigrants. Our findings are robust to several checks and to the implementation of an instrumental variable strategy. |
| Keywords: | immigration, innovation, knowledge spill-over, patent, age of mass migration, US |
| JEL: | F22 J61 O31 R3 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1835&r=mig |
| By: | Isabelle CHORT; Philippe DE VREYER; Thomas ZUBER |
| Abstract: | This study explores internal migration patterns of men and women using individual panel data from a nationally representative survey collected in two waves, in 2006-2007 and 2010-2012, in Senegal. The data used are unique in that they contain the GPS coordinates of individuals' location in both waves. We are thus able to precisely calculate distances and map individual moves, avoiding limitations and constraints of migration definitions based on administrative units. Our results reveal major differences across gender. Women are found to be more likely to migrate than men. However, they move less far and are more likely to migrate to rural areas, especially when originating from rural areas. Education is found to increase the likelihood of migration to urban destinations, especially for women. An analysis of the motives for migrating confirms the existence of gendered migration patterns, as female mobility is mostly linked to marriage while labor mobility is frequently observed for men. |
| Keywords: | Internal Migration ; Gender Inequalities ; Rural-Urban Migration ; Senegal |
| JEL: | J16 O15 O18 R23 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tac:wpaper:2018-2019_1&r=mig |
| By: | Edo, Anthony (CEPII, Paris); Rapoport, Hillel (Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper exploits the non-linearity in the level of minimum wages across U.S. States created by the coexistence of federal and state regulations to investigate the labor market effects of immigration. We find that the impact of immigration on the wages and employment of native workers within a given state-skill cell is more negative in States with low minimum wages and for workers with low education and experience. That is, the minimum wage tends to protect native workers from competition induced by low-skill immigration. The results are robust to instrumenting immigration and state effective minimum wages, and to implementing a difference-in-differences approach comparing States where effective minimum wages are fully determined by the federal minimum wage to States where this is never the case. |
| Keywords: | immigration, minimum wages, labor markets |
| JEL: | F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2018–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11778&r=mig |
| By: | Seidu, Ayuba; Onel, Gulcan; Moss, Charles Britt |
| Abstract: | This study examines the impact of remittances inflows on inter-sectoral migration of farm labor toward the non-agricultural sector. Using a panel of 77 developing countries over the period 1991–2010, we find two opposing effects of remittances on out-farm migration of labor. First, remittances slow down the out-farm migration rates by supplementing farm income and consumption expenditures. Second, remittances provide a source of investment in out-farm activities that increase the rate of migration out of agriculture over time. Combining these effects, our estimates indicate that a 100 percent increase in remittances reduces the migration out of agriculture by 10 percent over time. A major policy issue facing leaders in the developing world is whether international migration, through remittances, contributes to the development process in migrant-sending communities or impedes the efficient allocation of labor and human capital at origin countries. Our results indicate that international migrant remittances help slow the rate of out-farm labor migration through its supplemental income effect; remittances help finance farm households’ consumption expenditures, thereby eliminating the need to move to non-agricultural jobs. |
| Keywords: | International Development |
| Date: | 2018–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266531&r=mig |
| By: | Bijwaard, Govert (NIDI - Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute); Schluter, Christian (University of Southampton) |
| Abstract: | Consider the duration of stay of migrants in a host country. We propose a statistical model of locally interdependent return hazards in order to examine whet- her interactions at the level of the neighbourhood are present and lead to social multipliers. To estimate this model we develop and study two complementary estimation strategies, demonstrate their good performance while standard non-spatial estimators are shown to be heavily biased. Using a unique large administrative panel dataset for the population of recent labour immigrants to the Netherlands, we quantify the local social multipliers in several factual and counterfactual experiments, and demonstrate that these are substantial. |
| Keywords: | interdependent hazards, local interaction, social multipliers, return migration |
| JEL: | C41 C10 C31 J61 |
| Date: | 2018–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11780&r=mig |
| By: | Francesco Flaviano Russo (Università di Napoli Federico II and CSEF) |
| Abstract: | Increased immigration in Italy has been coupled with a change in the composition of the stock of immigrants by nationality. Migrants that come from different coun- tries and cultures bring with them different languages, habits, norms, religions and, in general, interact differently with the local population, thereby generating different re- sponses to immigration. I study the relationship between this changes in the identity of the migrants and the electoral outcomes in Italy computing several measures of distance between immigrants and natives with respect to the language spoken, to religion and to genetic factors that, being correlated with the vertical transmission of norms and values, proxy for a wide range of both cultural and individual traits. I find that the increased distance between immigrants and natives is associated with more votes for nationalist, anti-immigration political parties. |
| Keywords: | Elections, Culture, Language, Religion. |
| JEL: | D72 J61 |
| Date: | 2018–10–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:511&r=mig |
| By: | Chasapopoulos, Panagiotis (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management) |
| Abstract: | The dissertation consists of three empirical studies in the field of International Immigration. The first chapter examines whether the effect of cultural diversity on economic performance of European regions is influenced by the level of generalized social trust and individuals’ trust in public institutions. The second chapter investigates how the origin and the skill level of immigrants in European regions affect natives’ attitudes toward them. The last chapter examines the impact of international immigration on electoral support for the radical right in Dutch municipalities. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiutis:d4a10f2a-c1a2-4edd-9887-203d697a5560&r=mig |
| By: | Baum, Christopher F (Boston College, DIW Berlin, and Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies (CESIS)); Dastory, Linda (The Department of Industrial Economics and Management, Royal Institute of Technology); Lööf, Hans (Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies (CESIS), Royal Institute of Technology); Stephan, Andreas (Jönköping University, DIW Berlin, and Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies (CESIS)) |
| Abstract: | STEM workers are considered to be key drivers for economic growth in the developed world. Migrant workers play an increasing role in the supply of this occupational category. We study the universe of STEM workers in the Swedish economy over the period 2003-2015 and find that migrants are less likely to form their own business, but those who are entrepreneurs earn income at least as large as that of their native-born counterparts. While the income differential for economic migrants may be partially explained by self-selection, the estimated effect is not significantly different between natives and refugee migrants. |
| Keywords: | STEM; migration; entrepreneurship; income; panel data |
| JEL: | F22 J44 J61 L26 O14 |
| Date: | 2018–10–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0474&r=mig |
| By: | Swati Mehta Dhawan |
| Abstract: | One of the most common misperceptions of the refugee populations is that they are highly transitory and not permanent. However, increasingly refugees find themselves in protracted situations in the host countries (spending more than five years) or in a legal limbo (long legal processes for establishing their refugee status or those who have a ban on deportation but no refugee status). In such situations, they often are economically engaged, formally or informally, to sustain themselves beyond the government benefits. For this reason, it is critical that access to affordable and safe financial services be included in the comprehensive solution for refugee integration. These financial tools reduce their vulnerability by helping them save, lowering reliance on informal channels, dealing with emergencies, and making investments to build their capacities.This research paper aims to describe and analyse different aspects of the financial lives of refugees and asylum seekers (collectively ‘newcomers’) in Germany. It maps out the current situation of access to financial services for the newcomers, their unique financial needs, and the challenges from demand as well as supply-side perspective. The findings of the research are based on a thorough review of existing literature, qualitative in-depth interviews with newcomers, and interviews with key informants from the financial sector and other stakeholders involved in refugee integration (NGOs, social workers, researchers, international organisations). While the focus of the research is on financial strategies used by the newcomers, it recognises and looks at other spheres of integration— especially social and labour market—which heavily influences their financial choices. The other key focus of the research is to understand the behavioural factors and biases that influence their economic and financial choices.There is no doubt that newcomers in Germany are better off than those in many other developing host countries (due to welfare benefits, ability to work, training support). However, they still face significant barriers to achieve their economic goals and contribute successfully to the economic development of the host country. One of these is the access to tools to improve their long-term financial resilience. This is currently limited to receiving cash assistance digitally through a bank account, while most of the other transactions (savings, remittances, payments) are cash-driven and informal. This is due to a lack of understanding of the benefits of digital transactions, and more importantly the need to maintain privacy of their financial lives, as they fear to lose their welfare benefits. In addition, the uncertainty about their future and declining confidence in being able to make it into the German labour market is resulting in ineffective economic and financial behaviour. The paper further explores these challenges attempting to bring in the refugees’ perspectives and provides some initial recommendations to overcome the same. |
| Keywords: | Digitalisation, Financial inclusion, Refugees |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rem:wpaper:1182&r=mig |
| By: | Xiao, Wei (Research Institute of Economics and Management, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics); Zhao, Guochang (Research Institute of Economics and Management, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects of agricultural land on rural-urban migration and the labor market outcomes in the context of China. We employ the rural sample of the 2009 RUMiC data, which cover approximately 8000 rural households in 82 counties of China. We find that an increase in the agricultural land of a household tends to increase the household members’ propensity for migration for working in cities. We also find that an increase in land significantly decreases the number of days of migration, increases the number of days of farming work, and decreases the number of days of local non-farming work. More interestingly, the negative effect on time for local non-farming work is much larger than that for non-local non-farming work. The increase in the amount of agricultural land also pushes household members to move further. These results show us a new pattern different from the literature. To explain such a difference, we compare the effect of land among different age-groups and find that the positive link between agricultural land and rural-urban migration only exists for young people. Therefore, our results may reflect the change of the role of agricultural land over time. Our finding that less agricultural land hinders rural-urban migration suggests that, to help rural residents access opportunities in cities, governments should implement policies targeting households with less agricultural land. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural land, rural-urban migration, time allocation, China; Transport infrastructure; high-speed rail; firm performance; inventory; China |
| Date: | 2018–10–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:xjt:rieiwp:2018-09&r=mig |
| By: | Simone Moriconi (IÉSEG School of Management); Giowanni Peri (University of California, Davis); Dario Pozzoli (Copenhagen Business School); |
| Abstract: | The offshoring of production by multinational firms has expanded dramatically in recent decades, increasing these firms’ potential for economic growth and technological transfers across countries. What determines the location of offshore production? How do countries’ policies and characteristics affect the firm’s decision about where to offshore? Do firms choose specific countries because of their policies or because they know them better? In this paper, we use a very rich dataset on Danish firms to analyze how decisions to offshore production depend on the institutional characteristics of the country and firm-specific bilateral connections. We find that institutions that enhance investor protection and reduce corruption increase the probability that firms offshore there, while those that increase regulation in the labor market decrease such probability. We also show that a firm’s probability of offshoring increases with the share of its employees who are immigrants from that country of origin. |
| Keywords: | Offshoring, Product Market, Labor Regulations, Networks, Fixed start-up Costs |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ies:wpaper:e201714&r=mig |
| By: | Majeed, Muhammad Tariq; Malik, Amna |
| Abstract: | Purpose: This paper investigates the impact of globalization on human trafficking using a large panel data set of 169 countries from 2001 to 2011. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study explores the contribution of economic, social and political globalization in the trafficking of humans for forced prostitution, forced labor, debt bondages and child soldiers. Moreover, the study investigates the impact of globalization on source (supply) and destination (demand) of human trafficking. This study uses Probit and Oprobit models of panel data for empirical analysis. Findings: Findings of the study show that globalization facilitates human trafficking, particularly, forced prostitution, forced labor and debt bondages while it helps to suppress the demand and supply of child soldiers. The empirical analysis also reveals that these are the mostly poor countries which serve as source of human trafficking while the rich countries are destination of trafficked victims. Research Limitations: The data series over a long period are not available and therefore the sample size is small. Originality/Value: This research paper contributes into the literature on human trafficking and globalization by highlighting the heterogeneity of source and destiny economies in shaping the links of globalization with human trafficking. To the best of our knowledge, it is first study of its kind that provides an empirical analysis of source and destiny of human trafficking with globalization. Moreover, this study considers different dimensions of globalization and human trafficking. Implications: The main message of this research is that as globalization proceeds, human trafficking increases. Therefore, the governments of developing economies need to improve socioeconomic conditions to provide basic necessities of life at home country and the governments of developed countries need to implement strong rule of the law to discourage such practices. Our study is useful in offering insights to policy makers that how to avoid the perils of globalization. |
| Keywords: | Human Trafficking, Globalization, Probit and Oprobit Models |
| JEL: | J61 |
| Date: | 2017–04–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:88850&r=mig |