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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Mykhailyshyna, Dariia; Zuchowski, David |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of two massive and unexpected inflows of Ukrainians on voting behavior in Poland. The two migration shocks, caused by Russia's aggression against Ukraine in 2014 and 2022, allow us to compare the effects of conflict-induced labor migration and those of refugee inflows. Using an instrumental variable approach, we find that greater exposure to labor migrants reduces support for conservative parties in the short run and subsequently shifts voter preferences toward pro-redistribution parties. We do not find similar effects for refugees, who, unlike temporary labor migrants, had access to social benefits. Exposure to both types of Ukrainian migration leads to a decrease in far-right voting. This effect emerges only after the salience of Ukrainian migrants increases due to the escalation of Russia's aggression and the rise of anti-Ukrainian rhetoric from the Polish far-right. The backlash from Polish voters against the far-right rhetoric is ten times stronger in areas exposed to refugees than to labor migrants. Our results are robust to the use of a number of instruments and several sensitivity checks. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Refugees, Political Economy, Voting, Poland, Ukraine |
| JEL: | D72 F22 J61 P16 R23 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1649 |
| By: | Lambrecht, Isabel B.; Mardonova Tolibkhonovna, Mohru; Pechtl, Sarah; Teirlinck, Charlotte |
| Abstract: | Labor migration is generally motivated by the prospect of higher earnings abroad, and many migrants support their left-behind household members through remittances. Migrants’ long-term absence from home may, however, also affect intra-household dynamics among those remaining behind. Relying on primary qualitative data as well as quantitative data from 938 married women, we analyze empowerment impacts of migration on women in rural southern Tajikistan. Tajikistan is one of the most remittance-dependent countries in the world. A large share of young men migrates internationally, leaving behind – and often supporting – a multi-generational household. Yet, strong social norms limit the decision-making power and mobility of women, particularly of young women. Whereas senior women report noticeable differences when their spouses migrate, this is far less so for young women who live with their parents-in-law. Our study demonstrates that accounting for a respondent’s position within the household is key to understanding empowerment outcomes of its members. |
| Keywords: | migration; gender; households; women's empowerment; Tajikistan; Asia; Central Asia |
| Date: | 2025–07–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:175568 |
| By: | Dennis Egger; Benjamin Faber; Ming Li; Wei Lin |
| Abstract: | We combine a new collection of microdata from China with a natural policy experiment to investigate the extent to which reductions in rural-urban migration barriers affect flows of trade and investments between cities and the countryside. We find that increases in worker eligibility for urban residence registration (Hukou) across origin-destination pairs increase rural-urban exports, imports, capital inflows and outflows, both in terms of bilateral transaction values and the number of unique buyer-seller matches. To quantify the implications at the regional level, we interpret these estimates through the lens of a spatial equilibrium model in which migrants can reduce buyer-seller matching frictions. We find that a 10% increase in a rural county's migration market access on average leads to a 1.5% increase in the county's trade market access and a 2% increase in investment market access. In the context of China's recent Hukou reforms, we find that these knock-on effects on market integration were on average larger among the urban destinations compared to the rural origins, reinforcing incentives for rural-urban migration. |
| JEL: | F63 O12 R11 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34098 |
| By: | Ozili, Peterson K |
| Abstract: | Forced displacement poses a challenge to development. It displaces men, women, and children from their places of residence, making them strangers in another community and country. In the host country, they often lack legal identity. As a result, they cannot access basic formal financial services because financial service providers won’t serve them without formal legal identification. This puts forcibly displaced persons in a vulnerable situation. Financial inclusion for forcibly displaced persons, if it can be achieved, can give them access to basic financial services, which they can use to build resilience and cope with the humanitarian crises that accompany forced displacement. This study identifies some strategies to increase financial inclusion for forcibly displaced persons. It also highlights some challenges that may be encountered in advancing financial inclusion for forcibly displaced persons. The insights offered in this article are useful for development policymaking. It is also useful to academics, policymakers, and practitioners involved in activities, projects, or programs that are aimed at restoring the livelihoods of vulnerable people. |
| Keywords: | Crisis, financial inclusion, forcibly displace people, resilience, vulnerable group theory of financial inclusion, vulnerable people |
| JEL: | G20 G21 G23 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:125563 |
| By: | Landini, Fabio; Lunardon, Davide; Rinaldi, Riccardo; Tredicine, Luigi |
| Abstract: | The need to achieve a safe and just ecological transition is a key target of European policy makers. Green jobs are often presented as key levers to achieve this objective, as they enable the creation of new employment opportunities across a wide spectrum of occupations, including low skill ones. In this paper we investigate if and how these opportunities are seized by one of the most vulnerable segment of the labor force, namely migrants. By relying on detailed administrative data covering more that 12 million contract activations in the Emilia-Romagna Region (Italy) we document that, after controlling for potential confounders, migrants are less likely than natives to find employment in green jobs. Moreover, when they do, they have higher chances to be hired with either a fixed-term or an agency contract. Heterogeneity analysis across industries and occupations reveals that such precarious employment patterns are driven primarily by firm attempts to reduce green costs. These results are rationalized through the lenses of institutional segmentation theory. Related policy implications are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Green Jobs, Migrant Workers, Precarious Employment, Institutional Segmentation |
| JEL: | Q52 J24 J15 J41 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1636 |
| By: | Christian Dustmann (University College London); Uta Schoenberg (University of Hong Kong) |
| Abstract: | This chapter offers a novel approach to analyzing the effects of immigration on labor markets by structuring the discussion around a conceptual framework that links empirical estimates to fundamental structural parameters. This framework facilitates a clear interpretation and comparison of the parameters estimated by different empirical methods and clarifies the specific questions each method addresses. Section II introduces the canonical labor market model as a foundation for categorizing empirical approaches. Section III details the empirical approaches. Section IV differentiates between immigration’s impacts on regions and workers, proposing a framework to connect these perspectives. Recognizing the limitations of the basic canonical model, Section V explores extensions that incorporate critical adjustment mechanisms to immigration shocks, such as endogenous technology adoption, innovation, and product price adjustments. Section VI broadens the analysis by examining monopsonistic labor markets and search frictions, moving beyond the assumption of perfect competition. Finally, Section VII concludes with a discussion of unexplored research questions that are pivotal for advancing the understanding of immigration’s labor market effects and shaping future research agendas. |
| JEL: | J61 J31 J23 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:2522 |
| By: | Eric A. Hanushek; Le Kang; Xueying Li; Lei Zhang |
| Abstract: | The changing pattern of quality in China’s rural schools across time and province is extracted from the differential labor market earnings of rural migrant workers. Variations in rates of return to years of schooling across migrant workers working in the same urban labor market but having different sites of basic education provide for direct estimation of provincial school quality. Corroborating this approach, these school quality estimates prove to be highly correlated with provincial cognitive skill test scores for the same demographic group. Returns to quality increase with economic development level of destination cities. Importantly, quality appears higher and provincial variation appears lower for younger cohorts, indicating at least partial effectiveness of more recent policies aimed at improving rural school quality across provinces. Surprisingly, however, provincial variations in quality are uncorrelated with teacher-student ratio or per student spending. |
| Keywords: | school quality, migration, China |
| JEL: | I25 J6 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12017 |