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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Tamim, Abdulrazzak (University of California, Berkeley); Smith, Emma (Georgetown University); Palmer, I. Bailey (University of California, Berkeley); Miguel, Edward (University of California, Berkeley); Leone, Samuel (University of California, Berkeley); Rozo, Sandra V. (World Bank); Stillman, Sarah (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Refugees require assistance for basic needs like housing but local host communities may feel excluded from that assistance, potentially affecting community relations. This study experimentally evaluates the effect of a housing assistance program for Syrian refugees in Jordan on both the recipients and their neighbors. The program offered full rental subsidies and landlord incentives for housing improvements, but saw only moderate uptake, in part due to landlord reluctance. The program improved short-run housing quality and lowered housing expenditures, but did not yield sustained economic benefits, partly due to redistribution of aid. The program unexpectedly led to a deterioration in child socio-emotional well-being, and also strained relations between Jordanian neighbors and refugees. In all, housing subsidies had limited measurable benefits for refugee well-being while worsening social cohesion, highlighting the possible need for alternative forms of aid. |
| Keywords: | refugees, housing, forced migration, social integration |
| JEL: | D22 J61 O17 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17622 |
| By: | Ran Abramitzky; Leah Platt Boustan; Osea Giuntella |
| Abstract: | Immigrant enclaves offer valuable ethnic amenities but may delay assimilation. We study enclave formation in the Age of Mass Migration by using the centralized location decisions for “ethnic” Catholic churches. After a church opening, same-ethnicity residents of chosen neighborhoods experienced falling earnings but strengthened communal ties, as compared to residents of areas matched on baseline characteristics. Treated residents held more manual occupations, and increased in-group marriage and naming. These effects persist into the second generation and are not observed for non-ethnic neighbors. Consistent with the historical record, Poles organized communal life around neighborhood parishes, but Italians were less church-centered. |
| JEL: | N92 R23 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33362 |
| By: | Beber, Bernd; Ebert, Cara; Kyle, Jordan; Riaz, Zara |
| Abstract: | Millions of poor households around the world rely on migration to improve their economic circumstances and, increasingly, for resilience in the face of a changing climate. In vulnerable contexts, slow-onset climate impacts like water scarcity, rising temperatures, and more variable weather conditions are diminishing local economic opportunities and increasing food insecurity. Such climate impacts are projected to accelerate migration patterns, particularly out-migration from rural areas (Rigaud et al., 2018; SVR, 2023). While news reports on climate migration often emphasize communities leaving an area en masse due to a natural disaster, climate migration due to slow-onset climate shifts, which gradually lower crop yields and hinder agricultural livelihoods, more commonly implies a male household member migrating within a country, often seasonally, in order to send remittances back to his family. |
| Keywords: | gender; migration; women's empowerment; surveys; rural communities; Western Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; Africa; Senegal |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:prnote:168164 |
| By: | Zhou, Yang-Yang (University of British Columbia); , Rojas Daniel; Peters, Margaret E.; Kappos, Cybele |
| Abstract: | How do migrants perceive host citizens’ stereotypes about them, and can these metaperceptions change behaviors? We theorize that migrants are cognizant of hosts' stereotypes against them, which drive them to make choices that seem irrational based on economic cost-benefit calculations but are rational to restore status and dignity. To test our argument, we conducted behavioral lab games in Colombia, with 600 citizens and Venezuelan migrants. By randomizing partners and varying the information on partners' nationalities, we identify bias for and against outgroups. We find across games that Venezuelans give more to Colombians when both players' nationalities are known, compared to the baseline of no information and when playing with other Venezuelans. These findings suggest that migrants may act against their own financial self-interest to counteract prevalent stereotypes, such as being freeloaders on state welfare. We also find qualitative evidence that migrants desire to regain dignity by countering hosts' negative stereotypes. |
| Date: | 2025–01–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:2gvy8 |
| By: | Ceballos, Francisco; Hernandez, Manuel A.; Hernandez, Alvaro Espinoza |
| Abstract: | The e-MPI and the i-MPI are tools to objectively estimate the probability that individuals from a given household will, respectively, migrate abroad or migrate domestically in the near future. We use new longitudinal data to test their effectiveness fully out of sample. We find good predictive power of each of these indices in terms of the respective type of migration they attempt to anticipate. Moreover, they perform well against alternative measures, work reasonably well for both rural and urban areas and in departments not included in the original calibration data, and appear to capture distinct aspects around households’ decisions to migrate domestically and abroad. Overall, the MPI seems to be an important addition to policymakers’ toolkit. |
| Keywords: | migration; rural areas; urban areas; Honduras; Americas; Central America |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprwp:168708 |