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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Bäckström, Peter (Department of Economics, Umeå University) |
| Abstract: | A deteriorating security environment has led to a renewed interest in understanding individuals’ willingness to fight for their country. This study examines how attitudes towards military conscription service differ between native-born youth and those with an immigrant background in Sweden, with a specific focus on differences between first- and second-generation immigrants. Using population-wide data linking responses from a mandatory survey with high-quality administrative registers, the analysis covers nearly all Swedish citizens born between 2000 and 2004. The results show that first and second-generation immigrants have very different attitudes towards military service. While first-generation immigrants are equally, or even slightly more, willing than natives to serve in the military, second-generation immigrants are considerably less positive. These differences persist even after adjusting for socioeconomic background and migration origin, challenging a common assumption in migration research that children of immigrants converge towards majority-group attitudes across generations. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms behind second-generation immigrants’ lower willingness to serve. |
| Keywords: | military service; migration background; defence willingness; Sweden |
| JEL: | H56 J15 |
| Date: | 2026–01–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:umnees:1041 |
| By: | Zuchowski, David; Maciel, Mateus |
| Abstract: | Most empirical research finds that immigration has no effect on crime. Nevertheless, public concerns about immigration and crime persist, possibly driven by misperceptions. In this paper, we examine how an immigration shock affects crime perception. Specifically, we analyze the impact of the sudden and large-scale arrival of Ukrainian refugees in Poland following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Using unique data on reported safety concerns, we find a persistent decline in perceived risk in regions more affected by the refugee inflow. We provide additional evidence that this effect stems from a shift in local crime perception due to exposure to war refugees, rather than from a reduction in actual safety threats. |
| Keywords: | Crime, Crime Perception, Safety Concerns, Refugee Migration |
| JEL: | F22 J15 K42 |
| Date: | 2025–11–20 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:127411 |
| By: | Farhad Vasheghanifarahani |
| Abstract: | This paper examines wage returns to labor-market experience with a focus on immigrant assimilation and the portability of foreign-acquired human capital. Using U.S. Census and American Community Survey microdata from IPUMS, I study a sample of male, full-time, private-sector workers and estimate Mincer-style wage regressions with flexible experience-group indicators and fixed effects. Descriptive evidence shows that immigrants earn less than comparable non-immigrants within the same year, but that wages rise with accumulated U.S. experience. Regression results indicate strong and increasing associations between wages and total experience in the pooled sample, with smaller experience gradients among immigrants. Decomposing experience into U.S. and foreign components reveals that returns to U.S. experience are large and monotonic, while returns to foreign experience are substantially smaller across most experience bins. Country-specific evidence for recent migrants suggests steeper experience profiles for migrants from higher-income origin countries. Overall, the findings are consistent with imperfect transferability of foreign work experience and highlight the central role of host-country human capital in immigrant wage growth. |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2512.18827 |
| By: | Akira SASAHARA; Jongkwan LEE |
| Abstract: | This study examines the effects of the increased influx of immigrants triggered by the 1990 Reform to Japan’s Immigration Act on high school students’ career choices—specifically, whether they pursue higher education or enter the workforce after graduation. We employ the instrumental variable approach using a shift-share instrument based on historical settlement patterns. The results suggest that the influx of immigrants led more high school students to seek employment outside their home prefectures and to pursue higher education. These findings indicate that immigration can drive adjustments in human capital formation. |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:26002 |
| By: | Felix Degenhardt |
| Abstract: | I examine whether the early but temporary availability of low-barrier employment opportunities in the hospitality sector affects the labor market integration of refugees. My identification strategy combines the quasi-exogenous allocation of refugees to Austrian regions with high seasonality in Austria's hospitality sector, where 25% of refugees find initial employment. Exploiting within region, within year variation, I find that receiving labor market access during high seasonal demand increases employment probability initially, with significant employment effects of up to 3 percentage points, or 9% of the mean, in the first months. Employment advantages diminish after the first year, indicating that such early employment opportunities do not serve as a stepping stone. Still, treated refugees have in total earned more in the first three years, with no significant differences in medium-term wages and job quality. One disadvantage of early employment in hospitality is the increased labor market segregation, as treated refugees are more likely to work in industries more typical for refugees and in firms with higher non-Austrian coworker shares. |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2512.17422 |
| By: | Chen, Luoye; Hou, Yun; Xiong, Xueshan |
| Abstract: | We empirically investigate the impact of migration flows induced by the hukou reform on agricultural innovation in terms of quantity and quality. Utilizing the 2014 hukou reform in China as a policy shock, we observe a 23.1% decrease in agricultural patent counts, with no significant effect on disruptiveness. This decline is primarily concentrated in urban areas and is reflected in a reduction in the extensive margin, specifically the number of active innovators. The decrease can be attributed to two interrelated mechanisms: the loss of skilled agricultural workers who possess critical tacit knowledge and a diminished entry of agribusiness due to resource reallocation. The findings highlight the unintended consequences of institutional policies, suggesting that urbanization initiatives may inadvertently impede agricultural technological progress when human capital externalities are insufficiently addressed. |
| Keywords: | Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea25:361180 |
| By: | Mandal, Bidisha |
| Abstract: | This study examines how the 2019 revision to the public charge rule affected immigrant prenatal participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). We focus on the anticipatory effects of the policy announcement and the role of communication and perceived risk in shaping program uptake, even among individuals not directly targeted by the rule. Using a quasi-experimental design, we assess changes in prenatal WIC participation across five distinct policy phases, disaggregated by race-ethnicity cohorts. We find that announcements of the proposed and final rule led to significant declines in prenatal WIC participation among Hispanic immigrant women, with white non-Hispanic immigrant women responding only to the final rule. No significant changes were observed among Black non-Hispanic immigrant women. The actual implementation of the rule, delayed by court injunctions and complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, had minimal impact, while the reinstatement of the 1999 Field Guidance was associated with a rebound in prenatal WIC enrollment. These findings underscore the importance of policy communication and the unintended consequences that unclear messaging can have on access to critical safety-net programs among immigrant communities. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea25:360890 |
| By: | Kory Kroft; Isaac Norwich; Matthew J. Notowidigdo; Stephen Tino |
| Abstract: | Many temporary foreign worker programs issue “closed” visas that effectively tie workers to a single employer, restricting worker mobility and weakening bargaining power. We study the labor market return to temporary foreign workers (TFWs) gaining permanent residency (PR), which loosens this mobility restriction. Using administrative data linking matched employer-employee data in Canada to temporary and permanent visa records from 2004–2014 along with an event-study design, we find that gaining PR leads to a sharp, immediate, and persistent increase in the job switching rate of 21.7 percentage points and an increase in earnings of 5.7 percent three years after PR. Workers also sort into high-wage firms after gaining PR, and the increase in the firm pay premium is roughly 56 percent of the total earnings gain. We find larger earnings gains for job switchers across industries, low-skilled workers, and workers from low-income countries. To guide and interpret our reduced-form results, we develop a search-and-matching model featuring heterogeneous workers and firms. Permanent residents and native-born workers search for jobs in the same labor market and engage in on-the-job search, while TFWs search separately within a segmented labor market and do not receive outside wage offers. We calibrate the model to match our reduced-form results, and we use it to simulate the long-run effects of PR and consider two counterfactual policies: (1) increasing the cost to firms of posting a TFW vacancy and (2) allowing TFWs to switch employers freely under “open” visas. We evaluate how these policies affect output, wages, profits, and overall social welfare. |
| JEL: | F22 J42 J61 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34630 |