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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Szilvia Hamori (Institute of Economics Hungarian Academy of Sciences) |
| Abstract: | In light of the importance of immigrants' labour market integration in the host countries, this study examines the employment convergence between foreign-born and native-born in the European Union (EU), by gender and broad region of origin - distinguishing between immigrants born within and outside the EU - based on data drawn from the European Labour Force Survey. The estimation results point to numerous differences across immigrant groups, genders and receiving EU regions - especially between the Southern EU member states and the rest of the EU15 and between the Eastern European countries admitted in 2004 and the 15 pre-enlargement member states. |
| Keywords: | Immigrants, Employment, European Union |
| JEL: | F22 J21 J61 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:bworkp:0907&r=mig |
| By: | Åström, Johanna (Department of Economics, Umeå University); Westerlund, Olle (Department of Economics, Umeå University) |
| Abstract: | We study the effects of interregional migration on two-earner household gross earnings as well as on the relative income between married and cohabiting couples. In particular, we examine the link between education level and income gains. The empirical analysis is based on longitudinal data from Sweden as well as on functional regional labour markets that operate as regional entities. Using difference-in-differences propensity score matching, we find that migration increases total gross household earnings and has no significant impact on the male/female earnings gap. We find that pre-migration education level is a key determinant of migration and economic outcomes and is also a determinant of the effect of migration on income distribution within the household. The positive average effect on household earnings is largely explained by income gains among highly-educated males. Females generally experience no significant income gain from migration in absolute terms. Females gain significantly in relative income only if they are highly educated and married or cohabitating with a lower-educated male. |
| Keywords: | Regional migration; labor mobility; two earner households |
| JEL: | D10 J61 |
| Date: | 2009–11–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:umnees:0787&r=mig |
| By: | Elisabetta LODIGIANI (CREA, Universite du Luxembourg and Centro Studi Luca dÕAgliano) |
| Abstract: | The pace of international skilled migration has accelerated during recent decades and it has attracted considerable attention across scholars and politicians. This paper gives a general and critical idea of the brain drain issue. It provides stylized facts on the magnitude and skill composition of migration and explores the main findings on brain drain. Then it focuses on diaspora networks and on the major channels whereby they foster economic development in source countries. Some policy implications and general conclusion for future research are also given in the last part of the work. |
| Keywords: | brain drain, migration, diaspora |
| JEL: | F2 O15 Z13 |
| Date: | 2009–10–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2009036&r=mig |
| By: | Christine Binzel; Ragui Assaad |
| Abstract: | We analyze in this paper the impact of male-dominated migration and remittance income on the participation and hours worked decisions of adults left behind, including the hours spent by women in subsistence and domestic work. We differentiate between a 'pure' migration ("M") effect and the joint effect of migration and remittance income ("MR") and evaluate these effects for men and women separately. Additionally, we examine the labor supply behavior of wives whose husband migrated. We draw on the 2006 cross section using an instrumental variable approach as well as on the 1998/2006 panel of the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey (ELMPS06). In line with the literature, women in MR households (albeit not in M households) tend to reduce their wage and salary work. We find evidence for both intra-household specialization and an increase in women's (and wives') total work load. Men are generally less affected. Our results suggest that it is important to differentiate between these two effects and between the different forms of market and non-market work as well as to consider the relationship between remitter and recipient. |
| Keywords: | migration, remittances, labor supply, time allocation, gender |
| JEL: | J22 F22 R23 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp954&r=mig |
| By: | Manuela Angelucci |
| Abstract: | This paper documents how the structure of extended family networks in rural Mexico relates to the poverty and inequality of the village of residence. Using the Hispanic naming convention, we construct within-village extended family networks in 504 poor rural villages. Family networks are larger (both in the number of members and as a share of the village population) and out-migration is lower the poorer and the less unequal the village of residence. |
| Keywords: | extended family network, Hispanic naming convention, village marginality, residence, poverty, inequality, families, villages, rural, family, Mexico, residence, population, migration, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2301&r=mig |
| By: | Constant, Amelie F. (DIW DC, George Washington University); Tien, Bienvenue (DIW DC) |
| Abstract: | Economic reasons along with cultural affinities and the existence of networks have been the main determinants explaining migration flows between home and host countries. This paper reconsiders these approaches combined with the gravity model and empirically tests the hypothesis that ex-colonial links can still play an important role in the emigration decision. We employ a general linear mixed model, and apply it to the case of skilled, educated and talented Africans, who migrate to Fortress Europe over the period of 1990 to 2001. While we find some differences in the exodus of skilled Africans by sub-regions, the magnitude of the colonial vestige in Africa is a significant determinant of emigration flows. Overall, Portugal is preferred to the UK which is preferred more than Belgium, Germany and Italy. Brainy Africans are, however, indifferent between the UK, France and Spain as a destination country. Established immigrant networks and higher standards of living with job opportunities in the host country are also very important drivers of the emigration of brainy Africans to the European ex-colonial powers. |
| Keywords: | skilled migration, Africa, colonization, networks, economic reasons |
| JEL: | F22 O15 J61 |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4615&r=mig |
| By: | Åström, Johanna (Department of Economics, Umeå University) |
| Abstract: | The thesis consists of a summary and four self-contained papers. Paper [I] examines the effects of interregional migration on gross earnings in married and cohabiting couples. In particular, we examine the link between education level and income gains. We find that pre-migration education level is a key determinant of migration and economic outcomes and is also a determinant of the effect of migration on income distribution within the household. The positive average effect on household earnings is largely explained by income gains among highly-educated males. Females generally experience no significant income gain from migration in absolute terms. Paper [II] analyzes the effect of the spouse’s education on individual earnings. In this study, we control for time-invariant heterogeneity that may be correlated with the spouse’s education level and use a rich data set that includes observations of individuals when they are single and when they are married. The results support the hypothesis of cross-productivity for both males and females. Furthermore, couples with education within the same field experience even larger effects. In Paper [III] we aim to study how the spouse’s productivity in the labor market affects one’s own individual earnings when married. Using longitudinal data on individuals as both single and married allows us to estimate the spouses’ productivity as single persons and thereby avoid problems of endogeneity between the two spouses’ labor market performances. Productivity is approximated with residuals from estimates of pre-marriage earnings equations. Results indicate that there are negative effects of the spouse’s productivity on individual earnings for both males and females, and that this effect appears to be enhanced by the duration of the marriage. Paper [IV] studies spousal matching on earnings for females in secondorder marriages. We aim to follow women who marry, divorce, and subsequently remarry compared with females who marry and stay married over the course of the study interval. Overall, we find significant positive correlations for all three of the marital partitions. The correlation tends to be smaller for the first of a sequence of marriages for women who divorce than for women who marry and stay so. For the second of the successive marriages, however, the correlation of the residuals is larger than that for women who marry but once. |
| Keywords: | Regional migration; two earner households; marriage; education; human capital spillover; specialization; assortative mating; remarriage |
| JEL: | D10 I21 J12 J24 J61 |
| Date: | 2009–11–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:umnees:0790&r=mig |
| By: | Roberto Coronado |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I analyze the business cycle properties of remittances and output series for three pairs of countries: United States-Mexico, United States-El Salvador, and Germany-Turkey. Using an unobserved components state-space model (via the Beveridge-Nelson decomposition), I decompose the remittances and output series into stochastic permanent and cyclical components. I then use the resulting stationary cyclical components to estimate co-movements between remittances and output series. Empirical results indicate that remittances are countercyclical with all the home countries: Mexico, El Salvador, and Turkey. With respect to source countries, remittances to Mexico are countercyclical with the United States business cycle, while remittances from the United States to El Salvador and remittances from Germany to Turkey are strongly procyclical with output fluctuations in the source country. The contribution of this paper to the literature is twofold: (1) I use high-frequency data (quarterly) for a relatively long period of time; and (2) I employ more recent and sophisticated econometric techniques in the decomposition of the series into stochastic permanent and cyclical components. The existing literature lacks both of these important aspects of my analysis. I show that once both of these factors are incorporated into the analysis, empirical results are more aligned to those predicted by economic theory. |
| Keywords: | Business cycles ; Emigrant remittances ; Time-series analysis ; Econometric models ; Stochastic analysis |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:feddgw:40&r=mig |