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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Kaivan Munshi (Brown University); Nicholas Wilson (Williams College) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the role played by identity, or a sense of belonging to a home community, in determining occupational choice and mobility. The analysis links competition between migrant networks in the Midwest when it was rst developing, and the in-group identity that emerged endogenously to support these networks, to institutional participation and occupational choice today. Individuals born in counties with greater ethnic fractionalization in 1860, where identity was more likely to have emerged, are (i) significantly more likely to participate in institutions such as churches and parochial schools that transmit identity from one generation to the next, and (ii) significantly less likely to select into mobile skilled occupations 150 years later. The effect of historical fractionalization on participation in these socializing institutions actually grows stronger over the course of the twentieth century, emphasizing the idea that small initial differences in identity can have large long-term effects on institutions and economic choices. |
| Keywords: | identity, institutional persistence, networks, occupational choice, mobility |
| JEL: | D85 J62 L14 L22 |
| Date: | 2010–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wil:wileco:2010-22&r=mig |
| By: | Margot Jackson (Brown University); Kathleen Kiernan (University of York); Sara McLanahan (Princeton University) |
| Abstract: | Identifying and explaining nativity-based inequalities in child development at an early age is essential for ensuring the smooth social integration of children in immigrant families. Using two nationally representative samples of children born in the United States and United Kingdom, we examine: 1) the breadth of nativity-based inequalities in child development across multiple domains of development (health, cognitive and socioemotional development), several ethnic groups, and two different policy contexts; and 2) the moderating role of parental resources. The findings highlight the broad-reaching nature of developmental differences between children in immigrant and native-born families, and families’ socioeconomic resources emerge as both a buffering and risk factor for children with migration backgrounds. |
| Keywords: | child development, integration, immigrants, risk |
| JEL: | D60 H31 I00 J15 J00 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pri:crcwel:1270&r=mig |
| By: | Meng, Xin (Australian National University); Zhang, Dandan (Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | Hundreds of millions of rural migrants have moved into Chinese cities since the early 1990s contributing greatly to economic growth, yet, they are often blamed for reducing urban 'native' workers’ employment opportunities, suppressing their wages and increasing pressure on infrastructure and other public facilities. This paper examines the causal relationship between rural-urban migration and urban native workers' labour market outcomes in Chinese cities. After controlling for the endogeneity problem our results show that rural migrants in urban China have modest positive or zero effects on the average employment and insignificant impact on earnings of urban workers. When examine the impact on unskilled labours we once again find it to be positive and insignificant. We conjecture that the reason for the lack of adverse effects is due partially to the labour market segregation between the migrants and urban natives, and partially due to the complementarities between the two groups of workers. Further investigation reveals that the increase in migrant inflow is related to the demand expansion and that if the economic growth continues, elimination of labour market segregation may not necessarily lead to an adverse impact of migration on urban native labour market outcomes. |
| Keywords: | migration, native labour market outcomes, China |
| JEL: | J80 J45 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5288&r=mig |
| By: | Mathias Sinning; Shane Worner |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates immigrant assortative mating and relationship satisfaction. Using a modified random effects ordered probit model, the paper demonstrates that spouses of mixed couples are significantly less satisfied with their partner than native-only and foreign-only couples. |
| JEL: | F22 I31 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:acb:cbeeco:2010-533&r=mig |
| By: | Zarnekow, Nana; Henning, Christian H.C.A |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on networks as determinants of rural migration and the importance of networks in a rural development perspective. Furthermore the impact of public goods and amenities on migration decisions in rural regions is investigated. Special attention is paid on heterogeneity in peoples migration-decisive components. Data base is a non-farm household-survey of four rural communities in Poland. The estimations show that migration decisions are influenceable in different ways: Social networks as well as socio-economic components and the regional public-good endowment are important drivers of migration, but the direction and amount of influence depends on individual-preferences and on individual network-structures - among other things especially on the network-localization. |
| Keywords: | Migration, rural development, social networks, latent class model, Community/Rural/Urban Development, R23, D83, H41, |
| Date: | 2010–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa118:94829&r=mig |
| By: | Joel Perlmann; Yuval Elmelech |
| Abstract: | There is much interest in explaining the persistent ethnic gaps in education among Israeli Jews; specifically, the much lower attainments of those from Asian and African countries compared to the rest—Mizrahim vs. Ashkenazim, respectively. Some explanations (especially early ones) have stressed premigration immigrant characteristics, particularly the relatively lower level of educational attainment among Mizrahim. More recent interpretations have tended to focus on discrimination of various sorts that took place after the immigrants arrived in Israel. Crucial evidence for the discriminatory effect was introduced by Yaakov Nahon (1987), who demonstrated a shift toward a Mizrahi-Ashkenazi dichotomy in educational attainment between birth cohorts of adult immigrants and birth cohorts of adults born in Israel. From this evidence, a wide range of scholars concluded that the premigration educational characteristics of immigrants could not explain Israeli educational patterns, and that, consequently, the explanation based on discrimination was thereby greatly strengthened. In this paper, we use the 1961 Israel census public-use dataset to refine Nahon’s analysis. Instead of using age cohorts as proxies for “fathers” and “children,” we focus on actual fathers and their children. Our results vary substantially from Nahon’s. In fact, we find that the educational attainment of immigrant fathers clusters quite closely around the Ashkenazi-Mizrahi dichotomy, and conclude that it is no longer reasonable to rule out the premigration hypothesis. This outcome leaves researchers with a more challenging explanatory task than before, because they are now faced with the notoriously difficult situation of having to determine the relative influence of premigration characteristics, on the one hand, and of discriminatory processes, on the other. |
| Keywords: | Education; Immigration; Ethnicity; Mobility |
| JEL: | I2 I28 J15 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_633&r=mig |
| By: | Steven G. Prus; Rania Tfaily; Zhiqiu Li |
| Abstract: | Little comparative research exists on health experiences and conditions of minority groups in Canada and the United States, despite both countries having a racially diverse population with a signifi cant proportion of immigrants. This article explores race and immigrant disparities in health and health care access across the two countries. The study focus was on middle and old age given the change and increasing diversity in health and health care policy, such as Medicare. Logistic regression analysis of data from the 2002–2003 Joint Canada/United States Survey of Health shows that the joint effect of race and nativity on health outcomes – health differences between native and foreign-born Whites and non- Whites – is largely insignifi cant in Canada but considerable in the U.S. Non-White native and foreign-born Americans within both 45-to-64 and 65-and-over age groups experience signifi cant disadvantage in health status and access to care, irrespective of health insurance coverage, demographic, socio-economic, and lifestyle factors. |
| Keywords: | health, obesity, health care, race, immigrant, Canada, United States |
| JEL: | I12 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mcm:sedapp:280&r=mig |
| By: | Bergmann, Holger; Thompson, Kenneth J. |
| Abstract: | In the past, much rural development planning has relied on the concept of growth poles. With the ânew rural paradigmâ, we find that place-specific development and bottom-up approaches have become more popular than ever. Such place-based development often envisages the use of social capital. However, insofar as social capital is a local asset that is incorporated in individuals, it can easily be destroyed but not easily rebuilt. Continued out-migration and low in-migration into rural areas can have detrimental effects on social capital, and subsequently weaken bottom-up processes in the short and medium term. This paper - based on a survey of 1412 persons in northern Scotland - suggests that intensified migratory processes destroy social capital in rural remote as well as in urban areas. The results show that not only does actual out-migration decrease the available stock of social capital but also that mere intentions to out-migrate do so as well. Insofar as social capital can be built or re-built only in the long term, policies are therefore needed that offer potential out-migrants place-specific opportunities and increase the rate of integration of in-migrants. |
| Keywords: | migration, social capital, rural Scotland, new rural paradigm, trust, Community/Rural/Urban Development, R23, R58, Z13, D71, |
| Date: | 2010–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa118:94914&r=mig |
| By: | Coulter, Rory (University of St. Andrews); van Ham, Maarten (University of St. Andrews); Feijten, Peteke (University of St. Andrews) |
| Abstract: | Many theories of residential mobility contend that individuals express a sequence of moving desires, intentions and expectations prior to moving. Much research has investigated how individuals form these pre-move thoughts, with a largely separate literature examining actual mobility. Only a few studies have attempted to link pre-move thoughts to subsequent actual moves, but these often do not explicitly distinguish between different types and combinations of pre-move thoughts. Using 1998-2006 British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) data, this study is the first to investigate whether moving desires and expectations are empirically distinct pre-move thoughts. Using multinomial regression models we demonstrate that moving desires and expectations have different meanings, and often occur in combination: the factors associated with expecting to move differ depending upon whether the move is also desired (and vice versa). Next, using panel logistic regression models, we show that different desire-expectation combinations have different effects on the probability of subsequent moving behaviour. |
| Keywords: | residential mobility, moving desires, moving expectations, satisfaction, longitudinal data |
| JEL: | J61 R21 R23 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5277&r=mig |
| By: | Fox, Jonathan A; Gois, William |
| Keywords: | migrant, civil society, global, mexico, asia |
| Date: | 2010–11–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:glinre:1627491&r=mig |
| By: | albareto, g.; mistrulli, p.e. |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we address two related issues. First, we test whether micro firms run by migrants pay more for credit than firms run by native entrepreneurs. Second, we verify whether the differences in the cost of credit between these two groups of entrepreneurs decrease as long as the informational and cultural gap narrow. To this aim we employ a large and unique data set providing us with detailed information about each overdraft loan granted by banks to sole proprietorships based in Italy. We find that firms run by migrants pay, on average, almost 70 basis points more for credit than those run by entrepreneurs born in Italy. The interest rate differential is lower for entrepreneurs born in Italy whose parents were natives of other countries (“second generation” migrants) and, among those born abroad, for migrants whose parents were natives of Italy (“Italian migrants”). These results suggest that cultural differences may matter for the functioning of the credit market. A lengthening in credit history may help migrants to “bridge the gap”. We find that, on average, interest rates lower with the length of the credit history. Furthermore, and more importantly from the paper perspective, firms run by migrants benefit more from a repeated interaction with the banking system. Finally, we find that the size of the migrant community and the improvements in bank ability to deal with cultural diversity both contribute to narrow the interest rate differential between migrant and Italian entrepreneurs. |
| Keywords: | credit; financial integration; migration; |
| JEL: | Z10 G21 |
| Date: | 2010–10–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:26476&r=mig |
| By: | Vargas-Silva, Carlos |
| Abstract: | This article examines the determinants of remittance transfers, specifically focusing on the impact of crimes on remittances. Using the 2003 Quality of Life Survey of Colombia, we find that both domestic and international transfers are negatively affected by crime. That is, because crime may have an adverse effect on household assets and the return to investments in the home community, migrants may decrease transfers made for self-interested purposes such as future inheritance or investment. Although results suggest that a portion of transfers are sent for self-interest motives, variables related to the household indicate that altruism is also an important motivation for remitting. |
| JEL: | F22 D64 J61 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:oxford:http://economics.ouls.ox.ac.uk/14960/&r=mig |
| By: | K. P. Kannan; K. S. Hari |
| Abstract: | This paper attempts to construct a time series estimation of remittances from abroad to the Kerala economy for the period 1972 to 2000. It is now widely acknowledged that foreign remittances in the economy of the State of Kerala in India in the form of money sent by its workers in the Gulf countries play a crucial role. The study finds that by the early nineties remittances to the Kerala economy assumed a significant share of state income. [Working Paper No. 328] |
| Keywords: | emigration, Gulf countries, Kerala economy, remittances, and consumption |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:3132&r=mig |
| By: | Hassan, Gazi |
| Abstract: | The growth effects of remittances are controversial, but their welfare effects are less so. This paper provides evidence on the effect of remittances on poverty in an unbalanced panel of 40 high remittances economies. The endogeneity issue, driven by the possibility that remittances and poverty may have bidirectional causality, is tackled by a system estimation technique using the seemingly unrelated regression estimator (SURE) that not only allows both to be jointly determined but also allows the error terms of the simultaneous equations to be contemporaneously correlated. Using bootstraps, heteroskedasticty robust standard errors of the SURE regressions are reported and the estimates show that remittances significantly reduce poverty. On the other hand, remittances decline with the wake of widespread poverty. There is consistent evidence that remittances also decline with increases in health index of the general population. However, improvements in the health outcomes of poor people are associated with more remittances. Finally, there is some limited evidence that remittances rise with increases in educational attainments of the general population, but fall as the poor people become more educated. |
| Keywords: | Remittances; Poverty; Panel Data; Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SURE). |
| JEL: | C15 C33 I32 |
| Date: | 2010–10–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:26445&r=mig |
| By: | Jha , Shikha; Sugiyarto, Guntur; Vargas-Silva, Carlos |
| Abstract: | Remittances to Asia plunged during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, but the drop was temporary as the flows were increasing once again after just one year. The current crisis, however, is fundamentally different in that even the main remittance-sending countries have been adversely affected. The global nature of this crisis raises several questions such as whether the remittances slowdown will also last for a short time or developing Asia should prepare for a long period of remittance stagnation. This study examines remittances data of several Asian countries to shed light on such questions. The results suggest that while remittance flows to key recipients in the region have slowed down, there has not been a sharp drop. Furthermore, there is no indication that the remittance flows will slow down further, suggesting that the flows should be back on a higher growth path in a few years. It is unlikely, however, to see the same growth rates of the past, given that an important share of that growth during the last two decades was due to better recording of remittances and an increased use of wire transfers on the part of migrants. The study also provides policy options to deal with the future outlook of remittances. |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:oxford:http://economics.ouls.ox.ac.uk/14956/&r=mig |
| By: | Marina Capparucci; Francesco Giffoni |
| Abstract: | Some studies that investigate the effects of migration flows - based on Solow's growth theory (1956) and considering the specific contribution of the human capital transfer of migrant workers (Mankiw e al. 1992; Dolado e al. 1994, Piras, 1996) - allow to evaluate the negative impact generated by the brain drain on economic growth in a specific area. Preliminary to such an evaluation is the analysis of those push and pull factors which, within certain socio-institutional contexts, bring workers with higher skills to emigrate from certain areas, moving to others even within the national boundaries. The removal of at least some of these factors from the places of origin could actually allow to limit the pathological effects of human capital outflows. This paper aims to investigate in this direction, trying to estimate the influence of the main variables that drive the young University graduates of Southern Italy to look for an occupation in other Italian regions. The analysis starts with a brief presentation of migration dynamics -especially of the highly-skilled labour force that has moved from the South to the center and North of Italy in the last twenty-five years. After having advanced some theoretical interpretations of the phenomena investigated, we will apply cointegration technique to assess the specific impact of certain determinants. It will follow a brief reference to those growth models which allow to consider the impact of human capital outflows from a specific area, in order to eventually estimate its negative effect on income in terms of loss of potential growth. |
| Keywords: | Human Capital, Immigrant Workers, Economic Growth. |
| JEL: | J24 J61 O4 |
| Date: | 2010–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sap:wpaper:135&r=mig |