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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Lobo, José (School of Sustainability, Arizona State University); Mellander, Charlotta (Jönköping International Business School, Jönköping University & Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies (CESIS)) |
| Abstract: | We investigate if there are positive economic effects for individuals residing in ethnic neighborhoods, in particular if the likelihood of labor market participation among foreign born is affected by residentially aggregating with other people from the same region. We also examine to what extent the income level among foreign born who has a job is affected by the extent to which they congregate in ethnic enclaves. We use Swedish micro-level data for the time period 2007 to 2015 and run a Heckman estimation for the population overall, for immigrants, but also for four distinct immigration groups: those from poor and middle-income countries in Africa or Asia, from Former Yugoslavia, and from the Middle East. We control for personal and neighborhood characteristics, as well as work place characteristics. The results suggest that there may be positive effects from ethnic concentration, but only if the group makes up a significant share of the population in that neighborhood. |
| Keywords: | Labor market participation; foreign born; immigration; clustering effects; income levels |
| JEL: | J15 J31 R23 |
| Date: | 2019–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0475&r=all |
| By: | Ransom, Tyler (University of Oklahoma) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the role of labor market frictions and moving costs in explaining the migration behavior of US workers by employment status. Using data on low-skilled workers from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), I estimate a dynamic model of individual labor supply and migration decisions. The model incorporates a reduced-form search model and allows for migration for non-market reasons. My estimates show that moving costs are substantial and that labor market frictions primarily inhibit migration of the employed. I use the model to study migration responses to local labor market shocks and to a moving subsidy. Workers' preferences for non-market amenities, coupled with substantial moving costs and employment frictions, grant market power to incumbent employers. Large moving costs also likely affect employers' recruiting behavior. |
| Keywords: | migration, job search, dynamic discrete choice |
| JEL: | C35 E32 J22 J61 J64 R23 |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12139&r=all |
| By: | Bjerke, Lina (Jönköping International Business School); Mellander, Charlotta (Jönköping International Business School, Jönköping University & Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies (CESIS)) |
| Abstract: | The accepted rural-urban migration theory suggests that economic gains are made by moving from a rural to an urban area. Its premise is: “If you stay, you lose.” However, are losses still the rule? And, if so, how big is the economic loss once other factors are controlled for? In this paper, we specifically focus on the income effects of migration decisions among young individuals from rural areas, using microdata for Sweden. We find that, contrary to accepted theory, staying in a rural region most often is insignificant in relation to an individual’s income level. When taking housing values into account, it can even be financially beneficial for some to stay in a rural area. Only for highly educated individuals is it consistently financially beneficial to move to an urban area, also after controlling for housing costs. |
| Keywords: | rural-urban youth migration; income; mover; stayer |
| JEL: | J10 P25 R23 |
| Date: | 2019–02–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0476&r=all |
| By: | Eugenia Chernina (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Previous research has shown that the effects of natural shocks on household migration decisions may go in different directions. This paper explores the impact of natural shocks (self-reported) on the migration of members of Kyrgyz rural households. Employing a panel dataset from the Life in Kyrgyzstan Survey (2010-2013) we show that out of five studied shocks only droughts and floods negatively affect migration, while other shocks (cold winters, earthquakes and landslides) on average do not lead to any statistically significant change in migration. However, available migration networks, household financial capacity and involvement in agriculture are sources of differential impacts. Exploring the means of migration funding, we find that both liquidity and borrowing constraints are important for the poorest households. Help from friends and relatives for financing migration, if it comes, is sourced to rich households |
| Keywords: | labour migration, migration decision, Kyrgyzstan, natural disasters, financial constraints |
| JEL: | Z |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:214/ec/2019&r=all |
| By: | Elise S. Brezis (Bar-Ilan University) |
| Abstract: | Should individuals migrate before acquiring education or after? In order to analyze the optimality of the timing of migration, I develop a model of migration, which combines the two migration decisions into a unique model – decisions about where to get an education and decision about where to work. The main reason for having a unified model is that investment in human capital cannot be disjoined from the decision about work. This paper shows that brain drain is usually an optimal solution. But, when we incorporate ‘brain waste’ and ‘return migration’, then it is optimal to migrate when young. |
| Keywords: | Migration; Brain drain; Brain Waste; Psychological costs; Higher education; Return Migration; Quality of education. |
| JEL: | F22 I23 J24 |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:biu:wpaper:2019-03&r=all |
| By: | Mkrtchan, Nikita (Мкртчян, Никита) (The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration); Florinskaya, Yulia (Флоринская, Юлия) (The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration) |
| Abstract: | Based on the conducted INSAP RANEPA in 2017 - 2018. studies of international migration and internal migration of the population of the Russian Federation analyzed the prevalence and structural characteristics of skilled migration in the two largest Russian centers of attraction of migrants. The results of the survey showed that skilled migration in the previous 5 years filled up the corresponding labor market by 9-12%, while the majority of Russians (but only half of foreign workers) found work corresponding to their qualifications. The survey also showed that migration after receiving education in other regions, and not academic migration, as is commonly believed, are the main channel for the inflow of qualified specialists to the studied regions. |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rnp:wpaper:021926&r=all |
| By: | Chakrabortya, Tanika; Schüller, Simone; Zimmermann, Klaus F. |
| Abstract: | Estimating the effect of ethnic capital on human capital investment decisions is complicated by the endogeneity of immigrants’ location choice, unobserved local correlates and the reflection problem. We exploit the institutional setting of a rare immigrant settlement policy in Germany, that generates quasi-random assignment across regions, and identify the causal impact of heterogeneous ethnic capital on educational outcomes of children. Correcting for endogenous location choice and correlated unobservables, we find that children of low-educated parents benefit significantly from the presence of high-educated parental peers of the same ethnicity. High educated parental peers from other ethnicities do not influence children’s learning achievements. Our estimates are unlikely to be confounded by the reflection problem since we study the effects of parental peers’ human capital which is pre-determined with respect to children’s outcomes. Our findings further suggest an increase in parental aspirations as a possible mechanism driving the heterogeneous ethnic capital effects, implying that profiling peers or ethnic role models could be important for migrant integration policies. |
| Keywords: | Education,Ethnic Capital,Germany,Peer Effects,Policy Experiment |
| JEL: | R23 J15 I21 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:322&r=all |
| By: | Samuel Nocito (Università LUISS "Guido Carli") |
| Abstract: | I investigate the effect of studying in English language on international labour market mobility for university graduates from a non-English speaking country. I exploit the introduction of Master of Arts degrees in English when students where enrolled in their Bachelor as an instrument for studying in English. I find that studying in English increases the individual’s probability of working abroad by 11.2 percentage points. I also estimate the effect of an English degree on wages, and I find that graduates in English benefit almost a 60 percent increase in wage compared to graduates in national language. Finally, I provide evidence that the strong effect on wages can be explained because individuals who study in English self-select into more remunerative labour contracts and economic sectors |
| Keywords: | degree in English, graduates labour mobility, graduates wage, return to education, high skill migration |
| JEL: | I21 I23 J24 J61 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lui:lleewp:18144&r=all |
| By: | Joyce , Patrick (The Ratio Institute) |
| Abstract: | Sweden, Denmark and Norway have long been refugee destinations. All three countries received record numbers of asylum seekers between 2015 and 2016. This paper gives an overview and comparison on integration policies and labor market outcomes for refugees in the three countries after 2015. The paper also provides lessons from Scandinavia on fostering successful labor market integration for refugees. |
| Keywords: | Patrick Joyce; Labor market; Integration; Education; Social welfare. |
| JEL: | I24 I38 J15 J61 |
| Date: | 2019–02–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0319&r=all |
| By: | Ha Trong Nguyen (Telethon Kids Institute and Bankwest Curtin Economic Centre, Curtin University); Luke B Connelly (The University of Queensland); Huong Thu Le (School of Population and Global Health, University of Western Australia); Francis Mitrou (Telethon Kids Institute; University of Western Australia); Catherine L Taylor (Telethon Kids Institute; University of Western Australia); Stephen R Zubrick (Telethon Kids Institute; University of Western Australia) |
| Abstract: | Children of Asian immigrants in most English-speaking destinations have better academic outcomes, yet the underlying causes of their advantages are under-studied. We employ panel time-use diaries by two cohorts of children observed over a decade to present new evidence that children of Asian immigrants begin spending more time than their peers on educational activities from school entry; and, that the ethnicity gap in the time allocated to educational activities increases over time. By specifying an augmented value-added model and invoking a quantile decomposition method, we find that the academic advantage of children of Asian immigrants is attributable mainly to their allocating more time to educational activities or their favorable initial cognitive abilities and not to socio-demographics or parenting styles. Furthermore, our results show substantial heterogeneity in the contributions of initial cognitive abilities and time allocations by test subjects, test ages and points of the test score distribution. |
| Keywords: | Migration, Education, Test Score Gap, Time Diary, Quantile Regression, Second generation Immigrants, Australia |
| JEL: | C21 I20 J13 J15 J22 |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ozl:bcecwp:wp1901&r=all |
| By: | Manfred Perlik (CDE - Centre pour le Développement et l'Environnement - Universität Bern [Bern]); Andrea Membretti (Dipartimento di Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale - UNIMIB - Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca [Milano]) |
| Abstract: | This article discusses current European migration flows, their impacts on the European Alps, and future options for addressing issues of migration. It explores these issues from the perspective of regional development, taking into account the currently prevailing goals of economic competitiveness and local self-interest. It focuses on the Alps, a region in which rural areas are losing economic, demographic, and decision-making power due to outmigration. An end to outmigration in the Alps is currently unlikely, but there may be other ways to stem the resulting losses. Based on a review of migration literature and 3 case studies, the article explores ways in which programs for hosting and integrating migrants can also benefit long-time residents by contributing in many different ways to the development of mountain areas. From this perspective, efforts to integrate migrants can be seen as a form of social innovation that can contribute to the future of the entire Alpine economic space. Rather than focusing on drivers of migration or its humanitarian or constitutional aspects, the paper explores the potential benefits to all parties of a better integration of migrants into the host regions, and the possibility that this could become a model of social innovation. It suggests an agenda for research on how to reach this potential and agenda points for policy regarding measures to fulfill the potential. |
| Keywords: | social innovation,peripheral regions,exclusion,mountain immigration,European Alps.,Forced migration,social integration,displacement |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01992189&r=all |
| By: | Rukmani Gounder (School of Economics and Finance, Massey University) |
| Abstract: | Altruistic motivation of sending remittances is a decentralised decision of the migrants. A phenomenon known in the literature as remittances decay hypothesis suggests that the pattern of remittances follows an inverted U shape. We examine whether remittances have declined based on the length of absence of Tongan migrants in New Zealand (NZ). Results from a survey analysis for 309 households indicate that at the early stages of migration remittances increase and it declines over the length of stay in NZ. The time period at which remittances reach the maximum point after which it starts to decline is about 17 years. |
| Keywords: | Microeconomic Behaviour, Remittances, Decay Hypothesis, Migration, Tonga |
| JEL: | D01 F22 F24 O15 O56 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mas:dpaper:1801&r=all |
| By: | Rosmaiza A. Ghani (University of Waikato); Michael P. Cameron (University of Waikato); William Cochrane (University of Waikato); Matthew Roskruge (Massey University) |
| Abstract: | The relationships between migration and trade are a continuing source of debate in the academic literature. Some studies have found that migration and trade are complements, while other studies have found them to be substitutes. Still other studies have found that there is no statistically significant relationship between them. However, the majority of previous empirical studies have focused on the relationship between trade and migration in either a single country, a single region, or within a single trade agreement. This paper examines the bi-directional relationship between trade and migration using international bilateral trade and migration flows data for 248 countries over the period 1990-2010. We also account for other relevant covariates within a seemingly-unrelated regression gravity model framework. Our findings suggest that trade and migration are complements - larger migration flows are associated with larger trade flows, and vice versa. The relationships with other relevant covariates are as expected, with the exception that distance is positively and statistically significantly related to migration. Although our results do not definitively demonstrate causality, they suggest that, if world trade decreases due to countries acting on current protectionist sentiments, migration flows might also be expected to decline. |
| Keywords: | international trade; international migration; gravity model |
| JEL: | F14 F22 O24 |
| Date: | 2019–02–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:econwp:19/02&r=all |