nep-mig New Economics Papers
on Economics of Human Migration
Issue of 2009‒02‒07
seven papers chosen by
Yuji Tamura
Australian National University

  1. Marriage, childbearing, and migration in Kyrgyzstan: exploring interdependencies By Lesia Nedoluzhko; Victor Agadjanian
  2. Culture, Context, and the Taste for Redistribution By Luttmer, Erzo F. P.; Singhal, Monica
  3. The Impact of Labor Constraints on the Farm Performance By Santos, Florence Ivy M.; Park, Timothy A.; Escalante, Cesar L.
  4. International Migration, Transfers of Norms and Home Country Fertility By Michel, BEINE; FrŽdŽric, DOCQUIER; Maurice, SCHIFF
  5. Immigration and the U.S. Labor Market By Brian Duncan; Stephen J. Trejo
  6. Remittances and Growth in Latin America: A Panel Unit Root and Panel Cointegration Analysis By Ramirez, Miguel D.; Sharma, Hari
  7. Remittances and economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Impact of the human capital development By Garcia-Fuentes, Pablo A.; Kennedy, P. Lynn

  1. By: Lesia Nedoluzhko (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Victor Agadjanian
    Abstract: In our study we investigate interdependencies between entry into a marital union, childbirth, and migration. We apply event-history techniques to retrospective data on women aged 18-29 from a survey conducted in northern Kyrgyzstan in 2005 to examine how these events can influence one another, with a special focus on the effects of duration of exposure. In addition we analyze the impact of some individual characteristics on the propensity to get married, to become a mother, and to migrate. In our analysis we account for several duration dependences (‘clocks’). The results illustrate that months since marriage formation is the most important duration variable in the first-birth propensities model. Out-of-wedlock conception is associated with increased marriage risks. Migration is often a part of the family building process: high first-birth propensities of recent migrants as well as high migration risks among pregnant women are due to marriage-related migration.
    Keywords: Kyrgyzstan
    JEL: J1 Z0
    Date: 2009–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2009-003&r=mig
  2. By: Luttmer, Erzo F. P. (Harvard U); Singhal, Monica (Harvard U)
    Abstract: Is culture an important determinant of preferences for redistribution? To separate the effect of culture from the effect of the economic and institutional environment ("context"), we relate immigrants' preferences for redistribution to the average preference in their birth countries, controlling extensively for individual characteristics and country-of-residence fixed effects. We find a strong positive relationship. This cultural effect is larger for non-voters, those with shorter tenure in the country of residence, and those who move to countries with a large number of immigrants from their own birth countries. Immigrants from countries with a higher preference for redistribution are also more likely to vote for a more proredistribution political party. The effect of culture persists strongly into the second generation.
    JEL: D72 H23 Z10
    Date: 2008–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp08-038&r=mig
  3. By: Santos, Florence Ivy M.; Park, Timothy A.; Escalante, Cesar L.
    Abstract: Stricter immigration policies that affect an estimated 12 million unauthorized immigrants, 40% of whom are hired as farm workers, can potentially leave the highly labor-dependent organic farms more economically vulnerable. The displacement of unauthorized immigrants will expectedly create labor shortages. This study analyzes the impact of hiring constraints and changes in farm labor market conditions (due to stricter immigration policies) on the technical efficiency and financial performance of organic and conventional farms. A production function approach is used to analyze survey data that has a mix of organic and conventional farms in the Southeast region. Adjustment strategies to deal with labor shortage and providing workers with nonwage incentives have been determined to be an important determinant of farm income. Among the strategies, adjustment of wage and nonwage benefits were found to be the most effective but a combination of strategies is the most preferred approach to deal with labor shortage. Furthermore, we found productivity difference between farmers with labor shortage adjustment strategies and those who do not.
    Keywords: Agricultural Finance, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis,
    Date: 2009
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saeana:46821&r=mig
  4. By: Michel, BEINE; FrŽdŽric, DOCQUIER (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Department of Economics); Maurice, SCHIFF
    Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between international migration and source country fertility. The impact of international migration on source country fertility may have a number of causes, including a transfer of destination countriesÕ fertility norms and an incentive to acquire more education. We provide a rigorous test of the diffusion of fertility norms using original and detailed data on migration. Our results provide evidence of a strong transfer of fertility norms from migrants to their country of origin.
    Keywords: International migration; endogenous fertility; human capital; social norms
    JEL: J13 J61 O11
    Date: 2008–12–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvec:2008043&r=mig
  5. By: Brian Duncan (Department of Economics, University of Colorado at Denver); Stephen J. Trejo (Department of Economics, University of Texas at Austin, and CReAM)
    Abstract: Over the last several decades, two of the most significant developments in the U.S. labor market have been: (1) rising inequality, and (2) growth in both the size and the diversity of immigration flows. Because a large share of new immigrants arrive with very low levels of schooling, English proficiency, and other skills that have become increasingly important determinants of success in the U.S. labor market, an obvious concern is that such immigrants are a poor fit for the restructured American economy. In this chapter, we evaluate this concern by discussing evidence for the United States on two relevant topics: the labor market integration of immigrants, and the impact of immigration on the wages and employment opportunities of native workers. In these dimensions, the overall labor market performance of U.S. immigrants seems quite favorable. U.S. immigrants have little trouble finding jobs, and this is particularly true of unskilled immigrants. Most U.S. immigrants experience substantial earnings growth as they adapt to the American labor market. For most immigrant groups, the U.S.-born second generation has achieved socioeconomic parity with mainstream society; for some Hispanic groups, however, this is not the case. On the whole, immigration to the United States has not had large adverse consequences for the labor market opportunities of native workers. Therefore, with regard to the economic integration and labor market impacts of immigration, it is not obvious that the seemingly haphazard nature of U.S. immigration policy has led to unfavorable outcomes.
    Date: 2009–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:0908&r=mig
  6. By: Ramirez, Miguel D. (Trinity College); Sharma, Hari
    Abstract: Using recently developed panel unit root and panel cointegration tests and the Fully-Modified OLS (FMOLS) methodology, this paper estimates the impact of remittances on the economic growth of selected upper and lower income Latin American & Caribbean countries. Despite a large flow of remittances to the region, there have been relatively few empirical studies assessing the impact of remittances on growth in Latin American and the Caribbean. Panel unit root tests suggests that several of the macro variables included in the model exhibit unit roots, yet, at the same time, Pedroni’s panel cointegration methodology determined that there is a cointegrating relationship among the variables in the estimated model. Moreover, FMOLS estimates suggest that remittances have a positive and significant effect on economic growth in both groups of countries. The interaction of remittances with a financial development variable revealed that these two variables act as substitutes and, moreover, that the impact of remittances is more pronounced in the presence of the financial development variable.
    JEL: C22
    Date: 2008–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:yaleco:51&r=mig
  7. By: Garcia-Fuentes, Pablo A.; Kennedy, P. Lynn
    Abstract: Remittances are one source of external financing for developing countries that have been increasing in both size and importance as of late. However, the issue about the impact on economic growth from remittances is still opened for discussion. This paper adds to this discussion by investigating the impact of remittances on growth through human capital using a panel data analysis for a sample of 14 Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries during the period 1975-2000. The results indicate that remittances have a positive impact on economic growth in the representative countries from the LAC region; however, the realization of this impact holds only when the remittance receiving country has a minimum threshold of human capital stock.
    Keywords: Remittances, Human Capital, Growth, Latin America and the Caribbean, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Labor and Human Capital,
    Date: 2009
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saeana:46751&r=mig

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