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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Cemal Eren Arbatli (Faculty of Economic Sciences, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow); Quamrul H. Ashraf (Department of Economics, Williams College, Williamstown); Oded Galor (Department of Economics, Brown University, Providence); Marc Klemp (Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen) |
| Abstract: | This research advances the hypothesis and establishes empirically that interpersonal population diversity has contributed significantly to the emergence, prevalence, recurrence, and severity of intrasocietal confl icts. Exploiting an exogenous source of variations in population diversity across nations and ethnic groups, it demonstrates that population diversity, as determined predominantly during the exodus of humans from Africa tens of thousands of years ago, has contributed significantly to the risk and intensity of historical and contemporary internal confl icts, accounting for the confounding effects of geographical, institutional, and cultural characteristics, as well as for the level of economic development. These findings arguably reflect the adverse effect of population diversity on interpersonal trust, its contribution to divergence in preferences for public goods and redistributive policies, and its impact on the degree of fractionalization and polarization across ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups. |
| Keywords: | Social conflict, population diversity, ethnic fractionalization, ethnic polarization, interpersonal trust, political preferences |
| JEL: | D74 N30 N40 O11 O43 Z13 |
| Date: | 2018–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kud:kuiedp:1801&r=mig |
| By: | Sandra Rozo; Juan F. Vargas |
| Abstract: | Several studies have documented negative political attitudes toward immigration among local voters. By examining how episodes of crisis-driven internal and international migration affect electoral as well as socioeconomic outcomes across municipalities in Colombia, we explore whether these attitudes are explained by self-interest or sociotropic motives. Self-interested voters care primarily about the impact of migration inflows on their personal socioeconomic well-being. Sociotropic voters, in contrast, view migrants as a threat to local cultural or social norms and display in-group bias. We take advantage of the fact that both internal migrants (displaced by the armed conflict in Colombia) and international migrants (driven by economic and political downturns in neighboring Venezuela) disproportionately locate in municipalities with early settlements of individuals from their place of origin and find that, while internal migration inflows do not lead to negative electoral results for the incumbent party, international migration reduces support for incumbents and increases support for right-wing candidates. Further, we find that once we control for migration-affected proxies for individual welfare, the electoral effects of international migration are largely unchanged, but those of the internal displacement shock disappear. Taken together, these findings are consistent with a scenario in which political attitudes are driven by sociotropic motives when reacting to international migration and by self-interest when reacting to internal forced migration. This asymmetry has the potential to inform policy responses aimed at maximizing the net benefits of migration. |
| Keywords: | Migration, Electoral Outcomes, Political Economy, Colombia |
| JEL: | D72 F2 O15 R23 |
| Date: | 2018–10–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000518:016836&r=mig |
| By: | Edo, Anthony; Giesing, Yvonne; Öztunc, Jonathan; Poutvaara, Panu |
| Abstract: | Immigration has become one of the most divisive political issues in the United States, the United Kingdom, France and several other Western countries. We estimate the impact of immigration on voting for far-left and far-right candidates in France, using panel data on presidential elections from 1988 to 2017. To derive causal estimates, we instrument more recent immigration flows by past settlement patterns in 1968. We find that immigration increases support for far-right candidates and has no robust effect on far-left voting. The increased support for far-right candidates is driven by low educated immigrants from non-Western countries. |
| Keywords: | Voting,Immigration,Political economy |
| JEL: | D72 F22 J15 P16 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc18:181564&r=mig |
| By: | Jamal Bouoiyour (CATT - Centre d'Analyse Théorique et de Traitement des données économiques - UPPA - Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour); Amal Miftah (LEDa - DIAL - Laboratoire d'Economie de Dauphine - Economie de la mondialisation et du développement - Université Paris-Dauphine) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the LSMS Moroccan data and the Heckman two-step estimator to analyze, the determinants of migrants' remittances at a microeconomic level. In particular, we assess what motivate international migrants to send remittances towards households and we examine the main factors that affect the likelihood of remittances being sent. Our results lend support to the altruistic hypothesis involving that remittances are sending to households with low levels of welfare. Furthermore, the decision to remit is intensely associated to individual characteristics such as migrant income, gender and age. Likewise, remittances may be viewed as loan repayment if the migration costs were borne by the remittance-receiving family. |
| Keywords: | International migration,Migrants' remittances,Heckman two-step estimator,Morocco |
| Date: | 2018–09–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01880332&r=mig |
| By: | Jamal Bouoiyour (CATT - Centre d'Analyse Théorique et de Traitement des données économiques - UPPA - Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour); Amal Miftah (LEDa - DIAL - Laboratoire d'Economie de Dauphine - Economie de la mondialisation et du développement - Université Paris-Dauphine) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we empirically investigate the relationship between international migration and education attainment levels. We ask whether rural children who live in households that experience migration or/and receiving remittances are more likely to complete school at a given age than children who live in non-migrant households. Higher secondary and higher education levels are examined separately. Our results clearly show that children in remittance-receiving households complete significantly more years of schooling. In particular, remittances increase the probability of a male child completing high school. However, the evidence suggests that the international migration lowers deeply the chances of children completing higher education. Evidence also indicates the utmost importance of households' socio-economic status in determining to what extent the household mitigates the possible detrimental effects of migration on their children's educational outcomes. |
| Keywords: | International migration,Education,Remittances,Morocco |
| Date: | 2018–09–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01880328&r=mig |
| By: | Richard Curtain, Matthew Dornan, Stephen Howes and Henry Sherrell |
| Abstract: | “Crowding out†is a widely accepted claim in migration analysis, which posits that the preference of profit†maximising employers for irregular and minimally regulated migrants overregulated alternatives will undermine, if not condemn to failure, well†regulated temporary migration schemes. In this paper, we test the crowding out hypothesis by examining the experience with well†regulated seasonal migrant worker programs in the horticultural sectors of Australia and New Zealand. This experience, which in both countries has involved recruitment of workers from the Pacific Islands, has been divergent, despite the two programs being similar in design. Our findings suggest that the relative attractiveness of regulated and unregulated migrant labour sources depends on a range of factors, including the export orientation of the sector, the costs of collective action and regulation, differences in policy design and implementation, and external factors. Depending on industry and economy†wide characteristics, quality and reputational benefits for employers can offset the cost of regulation. |
| Keywords: | horticulture, labour mobility, Pacific island countries, public policy, seasonal workers |
| Date: | 2018–10–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:appswp:201834&r=mig |
| By: | Numtip Smerchuar (Waseda University) |
| Abstract: | As a major country situated in the middle of mainland Southeast Asia, Thailand has experience in migration movements. In 1977, Thailand began adapting to industrial development. Due to rapid industrialization, Thailand was confronted with an inadequacy of domestic labor, and higher wages meant Thailand became a destination of labors from other countries in the region. In such circumstance Thailand could not come across to reach a concrete policy on foreign workers but what Thailand could do most was to introduce a day by day policy. In other words, without an effective policy on immigration, Thailand has to face many problems that came after. With a help from illegal movement which got benefits from illegal immigrants, Thai policy in this case was still in vain.Historical research on Thailand?s migration policies is limited. However, what there is can explain a specific phenomenon of governmental migration policy. Additionally, the previous studies were highlighted on 1992, which was the beginning of the relaxation of registration of an influx of migrant workers from neighboring countries. The policy is often described as part of the larger migration context, or as outlining the scope of the topic under discussion, but the mechanisms of policymaking, and how those have changed over time, is rarely discussed. This study argues that the role of government as the main agent since the Foreign Employment Act of 1978, and the reasons for change in each transition period, should be explored to explain the Thai government?s handling on this issue during a period of political turbulence and global economic changes. The contents of the paper show how Thailand has confronted its problems, including the state?s perception and the policy mechanisms used to solve those problems. Based on the government documents, the dynamics Thailand?s policies can be concluded as; 1) Thailand has no coherence objectives to handle with migrant workers. 2) Thailand responded the influx of undocumented workers with controlling approach during 1978-2000 and shifted to systematic management approach in 2001 onward, and 3) Thailand?s migration policy perused isolate from national development strategy. |
| Keywords: | Thailand migration policy, immigration, public policy |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:ilppro:7909615&r=mig |
| By: | Pawel Strzelecki |
| Abstract: | In the modern history, Poland has never experienced large wave of labour immigration comparable to observed since 2014. Massive immigration provoked a public discussion about the consequences of immigration for the Polish labour market. In this paper we shed some light on that problem by analysing the level of the native-immigrant wage gap in two cities in Poland using two popular methods of filtering off the impact of differences between immigrant and native workers in composition of their individual characteristics and their workplaces. These methods are: Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition and non-parametric decomposition proposed by Nopo (2008). In order to compare native and immigrant workers we use the Polish Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data and the special survey of immigrants ordered by National Bank of Poland and conducted using respondent driven sampling (RDS) method. The results of the decompositions show that the difference in average wages of immigrant and native workers until 2016 is explained mostly by the differences in the composition of features of persons and workplaces. Unexplained wage gap concerned only hourly wages in Warsaw (and amounted to between 4-15% depending on method of decomposition and weighting of the results) but was not significant in Lublin. However unexplained wage gap was significant for occupations with higher wages in both cities. In some cases migrants achieved on average higher wages than native workers. Most immigrants lived in Poland for relatively short period of time and in this early stage of immigration process there were also no signs of narrowing the unexplained wage gap for immigrants who stayed longer than others. |
| Keywords: | wage distribution, wage differentials, immigrants, native workers, wage gap |
| JEL: | J31 J61 J71 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sgh:kaewps:2018041&r=mig |
| By: | Lattof, Samantha R.; Coast, Ernestina; Leone, Tiziana |
| Abstract: | Women’s ability to access health care requires access to and control of resources as well as the ability to make personal health decisions. Female migrants may experience additional challenges in accessing health care due to marginalization and vulnerability resulting from both their gender and their migrant status. Rural-to-urban migrant women working in the informal sector, such as Ghana’s head porters (kayayei), experience exclusion from the health system, risk of being uninsured, and poor health outcomes. Kayeyei’s survival needs (e.g., food, water) and a need to provide for their families can mean that migrant kayayei avoid health care expenses for illnesses or injuries. To ensure equal access to health care for migrant and non-migrant populations, health insurance is crucial. Yet, improving access to health care and service uptake requires more than health insurance. Incorporating culturally-appropriate care into the provision of health services, or even developing specific migrant-friendly health services, could improve health service uptake and health awareness among migrants. Public health systems should also take account of migrants’ financial situations and priorities in the design and delivery of health services |
| Keywords: | Health insurance; health care-seeking behavior; determinants; perceptions; poverty; access; urban health; gender; informal sector; population movement; migration; Ghana |
| JEL: | N0 |
| Date: | 2018–09–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:90288&r=mig |
| By: | Jamal Bouoiyour (CATT - Centre d'Analyse Théorique et de Traitement des données économiques - UPPA - Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour); Amal Miftah (LEDa - DIAL - Laboratoire d'Economie de Dauphine - Economie de la mondialisation et du développement - Université Paris-Dauphine) |
| Abstract: | Using a nationally-representative household data set from Morocco, the present study seeks to estimate the effects of migrants' remittances on household investments in children's human capital. Three findings emerge. First, children in remittance-receiving households are more likely to attend school and less likely to drop out compared with those in non-remittance-receiving households. Second, children's participation in labor market decreases in the presence of international remittances. Third, we find remittances to be associated with significantly lower level of no schooling for girls. These findings support the growing view that remittances can help increase the educational opportunities, especially for female children. |
| Keywords: | Child labor,Education,Gender inequality,Remittances,Morocco |
| Date: | 2018–09–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01880327&r=mig |