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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Brox, Enzo; Krieger, Tommy |
| Abstract: | We present a simple model to illustrate how birthplace diversity may affect team performance. The model assumes that birthplace diversity increases the stock of available knowledge due to skill complementarities and decreases effciency due to communication barriers. The consequence of these two opposing effects is a humpshaped relationship between birthplace diversity and team performance. To verify this prediction, we exploit self-collected data on the first division of German male soccer. Our data set covers 7,028 matches and includes information about 3,266 players coming from 98 countries. We propose two different instrumental variable approaches to identify the effect of birthplace diversity on team performance. Our findings suggest that an intermediate level of birthplace diversity maximizes team performance. |
| Keywords: | birthplace diversity,firm performance,globalization,high-skilled migration,international migration,productivity,soccer,team composition,team performance |
| JEL: | F23 J01 J24 M14 M54 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:19020&r=all |
| By: | Nicola Daniele Coniglio (Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro"); Rezart Hoxhaj (Migration Policy Centre, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, EUI); Hubert Jayet (University of Lille, Faculté des Sciences économiques et sociales) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study the allocation of time devoted to informal learning and education, i.e. those activities carried out during leisure time and outside formal education courses which boost individuals’ human and social capital. For immigrants the private investment in these activities is likely to have relevant external effects as informal learning and education enhances the likelihood of greater socio-economic integration in the host society. We first develop a simple theoretical framework, which allows us to highlight the different constrains/opportunity costs faced by immigrants as compared with natives. Then, we empirically investigate the determinants of participation in informal education using the American Time Use Data (ATUS; period 2003-2015) which contains detailed information on daily time budgets of a large sample of immigrants and natives in the US. Consistently with a theoretical model of time allocation we find evidence that immigrants are more likely to engage in informal education and, conditional on participation, they allocate more time to these activities. Over time, immigrants show a higher degree of assimilation into the host society. Our results also highlight heterogeneous patterns across gender. |
| Keywords: | immigrants; time use; education; human capital |
| JEL: | J15 J22 I20 |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bai:series:series_wp_01-2019&r=all |
| By: | Felicitas Schikora |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effect of a recently introduced policy reform on participation in integration courses and on certified language proficiency levels among refugees in Germany. The residence rule restricts initial residence for refugees with a permanent residence permit. Given that treatment intensity varies distinctly across states, I utilize this quasi-experiment and apply a difference-in-differences approach. Using an innovative data-set, the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees, I find that stricter statutory provisions have a positive effect on the probability to complete a language course and on the level of certified language proficiency. The results indicate that this effect is driven partly by spatial mismatch. |
| Keywords: | Migration, Refugees, Language Acquisition, Placement Restriction, Quasi-Experiment |
| JEL: | J15 J60 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1035&r=all |
| By: | Silvia Loi (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Joonas Pitkänen; Heta Moustgaard; Mikko Myrskylä (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Pekka Martikainen (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Children of first-generation immigrants tend to have better health than the native population, but over generations, the health advantage of immigrant children deteriorates. It is, however, poorly understood how family resources can explain health assimilation, whether the process of assimilation varies across health conditions, and where on the generational health assimilation spectrum children with one immigrant and one native parent (exogamous families) lie. We seek to extend our understanding of the process of health assimilation by analyzing the physical and mental health of immigrant generations, assessing the role of exogamous family arrangements, and testing the contribution of family material and social resources on the offspring’s outcomes. We use register-based longitudinal data from a 20% random sample of Finnish households with children born in years 1986-2000, free of reporting bias and loss to follow-up. We estimate the risk of being hospitalized for somatic conditions, psychopathological disorders, and injuries by immigrant generation status. Our results show a negative health assimilation process with higher prevalence of physical and, in particular, mental health problems among second-generation immigrant children than among native children, and to first-generation immigrant children, that is only partially explained by family resources. We find that the children of exogamous families are at especially high risk of developing psychopathological disorders. These results provide strong support for the hypothesis that children of exogamous families constitute a specific health risk group, especially for psychopathological disorders, and that the role of the family seems to be is secondary to other unobserved factors. |
| Keywords: | Finland |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2019-009&r=all |
| By: | William R. Kerr |
| Abstract: | Talent is the most precious resource for today’s knowledge-based economy, and a significant share of the U.S. skilled workforce in technology fields is foreign born. The United States has long held a leading position in attracting global talent, but the gap to other countries is weakening. Immigration policies like the H-1B visa program shape the admissions of foreign workers to the country and grant a particularly strong gatekeeping role to sponsoring firms and universities. This chapter explores the data around global talent flows and some of the economic implications of an employer-driven immigration approach. |
| JEL: | F22 F23 J24 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25875&r=all |
| By: | Ananth Ramanarayanan (University of Western Ontario) |
| Abstract: | We examine how immigrant employment enhances trade at the firm level using unique administrative matched employer-employee data from Canada. We augment a standard model of firms’ export market entry and sales decisions with trade costs that depend on destination-specific immigrant employment at the firm level. We estimate simple structural equations derived from the model that relate destination-specific exporting decisions to immigrant employment. We develop a method to deal with the potential endogeneity of immigrant employment that exploits the optimality conditions associated with the firm’s employment decision. We find positive and statistically significant effects of firm level immigrant employment on exporting. These effects vary with product type and immigrant employee characteristics in ways consistent with the idea that immigrant employees alleviate information barriers to trade. |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwo:uwowop:20192&r=all |
| By: | Cormac Ó Gráda |
| Abstract: | Ireland on the eve of the Great Famine was a poor and backward economy. The Great Irish Famine of the 1840s is accordingly often considered the classic example of Malthusian population economics in action. However, unlike most historical famines, the Great Famine was not the product of a harvest shortfall, but of a major ecological disaster. Because there could be no return to the status quo ante, textbook famine relief in the form of public works or food aid was not enough. Fortunately, in an era of open borders mass emigration helped contain excess mortality, subject to the limitation that the very poorest could not afford to leave. In general, the authorities did not countenance publicly assisted migration. This paper discusses the lessons to be learned from two exceptional schemes for assisting destitute emigrants during and in the wake of the Famine. |
| Keywords: | Malthus; Famine; Population |
| JEL: | N00 N33 N53 N93 B12 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucn:wpaper:201821&r=all |
| By: | Epstein, Gil S.; Katav-Herz, Shirit |
| Abstract: | Population ageing affects most countries, especially developed ones. The elderly have increased in number as a result of increased longevity and a parallel decline in fertility. This phenomenon is placing an increasing burden on the young to finance intergenerational transfers to the old, which is creating a threat to the stability of the pension system and the long-run viability of society as a whole. One possible solution is to permit more immigration, which will both increase the labor force and broaden the tax base. Increasing immigration has a variety of effects on the local population, which vary according to age and wealth. One of these is the threat to local social norms and culture since immigrants tend to maintain the culture of their country of origin. This effect increases with the number of immigrants and reduces the attractiveness of immigration as a solution to population ageing. This paper examines immigration as a solution to the problem of ageing population, while considering the implication of immigration on social norms. |
| Keywords: | Immigration,Social norms,Population ageing,Intergenerational transfers,Attitude toward immigrants |
| JEL: | J11 J15 J61 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:351&r=all |
| By: | Delaporte, Isaure |
| Abstract: | A growing concern in Western countries is the fact that immigrants might adopt oppositional identities. Although identity is expected to affect the economic outcomes of immigrants, little is known about the factors that in uence the identity choice of the migrants and thus, their employment outcomes. This study investigates the effect of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the process of identity formation and the employment outcomes of Turkish immigrants in Germany. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, this study relies on a difference-in-differences strategy to compare the outcomes of Turks with non-Turks before and after the attacks. The results show that Turks have adopted more extreme identities after 9/11 compared to non-Turks: they are more likely to feel completely German; they are less likely to feel in some respects Turkish whereas they are more likely to feel mostly Turkish. There is no significant impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Turks' employment outcomes relative to non-Turks. |
| Keywords: | Immigrant,Integration,Ethnic Identity,Employment,Terrorism,Difference-in-Differences Estimation |
| JEL: | J15 J71 Z13 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:353&r=all |
| By: | Barsbai, Toman |
| Abstract: | International migration generates large benefits for migrants and their family members who stay behind. But migrants' socio-economic integration in destination countries is often imperfect and many migrants face the risk of exploitation. Migrants' origin countries should therefore consider policies to increase the benefits of international migration. Pre-departure orientation seminars for migrants and financial education can improve migrant's decision-making. Likewise, behavioral interventions can reduce migrant mistreatment. These policy options are low-cost and have shown promising impact in the contexts they were evaluated. It may pay off to experiment with them in other contexts. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:pegnpb:142018&r=all |
| By: | O’Connor, Kelsey J. |
| Abstract: | Immigration is one of the most debated topics in Europe today, yet little is known about the overall effect of its multiple impacts. The analysis suggests natives need not worry. Increasing immigrant population shares have no statistically significant effects on natives’ well-being in 28 European Union countries over the years 1990- 2017 (EU12) and 2005-2017 (new member states) using macro data aggregated from Eurobarometer surveys. Immigration does not statistically affect natives’ well-being across all scenarios, such as: when observing the raw data or accounting for reverse causality and omitted variables using instrumental variable methods; accounting for whether or not immigrants are from the EU; and for population subgroups, notably the poorly educated and elderly. Refugees also do not statistically affect the well-being of natives. Any negative relations that are observed are not statistically significant and exhibit small magnitudes. |
| Keywords: | migration,refugees,life satisfaction,happiness,Eurobarometer |
| JEL: | I31 J11 O15 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:352&r=all |
| By: | Bright Isaac Ikhenaode; Carmelo Pierpaolo Parello |
| Abstract: | We present a dynamic North-South model with search frictions and endogenous labor migration to study the long-run implications of labor factor mobility on labor market conditions and welfare. In the model, the high-TFP country (North) acts as the destination country for migration, while the low-TFP country (South) acts as the origin country. We prove that there always exists a unique steady-state equilibrium for the world economy, and find that a permanent increase in migration effort causes per capita income to rise in North and to fall in the South. However, our simulations also show the existence of a job displacement effect in the host country that makes domestic employment fall in the long-run. In an extension of the baseline model, we test the long-run effects of a pro-employment protectionist policy of the destination country consisting in imposing a distortionary tax on the domestic firms hiring migrant workers. Our analysis shows that a positive tax rate on foreign employment can increase natives welfare, but only at the expense of losses in national production and employment. These results are robust across different degrees of substitutability between migrant and native workers. |
| Keywords: | North-South migration; Ramsey-Like Growth; International Labor Mobility; Frictional Unemployment |
| JEL: | F24 F41 J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sap:wpaper:wp184&r=all |
| By: | KONDO Keisuke |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes interregional migration decision-making in terms of utility maximization. Given that indirect utility consists of real income and migration costs, migration decisions depend on whether additional benefits of real income by migration at least offset the costs of migration. To quantify migration costs from interregional migration flow data, this study constructs a structural model of migration decision by incorporating different migration costs based on different age ranges. This study further discusses whether current migration policy is effective based on the counterfactual results since the Japanese government currently promotes urban-to-rural migration policy measures for regional revitalization in order to correct monopolar concentration in Tokyo. |
| Date: | 2019–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:rpdpjp:19006&r=all |
| By: | Nikoloski, Zlatko; Zhang, Anwen; Hopkin, Gareth; Mossialos, Elias |
| Abstract: | Importance: There were an estimated 247 million rural-to-urban migrant workers in China in 2016, yet at a national level, there is scant evidence on the association of migration with mental health among migrants and their left-behind family members. Objective: To examine the association of rural-to-urban migration with symptoms of depression among migrants and left-behind family members aged 45 years and older. Design, Setting, and Participants: Using representative cross-sectional data of 14 332 middle-aged and older adults from the 2015 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey, regression analyses were conducted to examine the association of depressive symptoms with rural-to-urban migration status in urban areas and the association of depressive symptoms with left-behind status in rural areas. The statistical analysis was performed from January to August 2018. Exposures: Migration status (defined as having a rural hukou [household registration record]) in urban areas and left-behind status (defined as having a spouse or child living in another area) in rural areas. Main Outcomes and Measures: Depressive symptoms measured on the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D-10) scale. Results: A total of 14 332 middle-aged and elderly participants (mean [SD] age, 59.84 [9.51] years; 7394 [51.6%] women) were included, of whom 4404 (30.7%) lived in urban areas and 9928 (69.3%) lived in rural areas. In urban areas, 1607 participants (36.2%) were rural-to-urban migrants, and the remaining 2797 participants (72.8%) were local residents. In rural areas, 3405 participants (34.3%) were left-behind family members, and the remaining 6523 participants (65.7%) were not. Compared with urban residents, rural-to-urban migrants had higher CES-D-10 scores after adjustment for covariates (β = 0.74; 95% CI, 0.08-1.40; P = .03; standard errors clustered at the household level henceforth). Compared with intact-family rural residents, left-behind spouses had higher CES-D-10 scores after adjustment for covariates (β = 0.54; 95% CI, 0.05-1.03; P = .03). Conclusions and Relevance: Rural-to-urban migration in China was associated with poor mental health for migrants and their left-behind spouses. Short-term policies, such as building community social facilities, may prove effective, but long-term solutions should address issues related to economic and social exclusions and the lack of a social security system in rural China. |
| JEL: | R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2019–05–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:100854&r=all |