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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Carlo Alcaraz; Daniel Chiquiar; Alejandrina Salcedo |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effects of remittances from the U.S. on child labor and school attendance in recipient Mexican households. We identify these effects using the impact of the 2008-2009 U.S. recession on remittance receipts. The methodology employed is a differences-in-differences strategy that compares households that were remittance recipients before the crisis with never-recipient households. To avoid possible selection problems, we instrument for membership in the remittance recipient group. We find that the negative shock on remittance receipts caused a significant increase in child labor and a significant reduction of school attendance. |
| Keywords: | Child labor, International migration, Remittances, Mexico. |
| JEL: | J43 J81 O15 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdm:wpaper:2010-14&r=mig |
| By: | David Kiss |
| Abstract: | Using PIRLS 2001 and PISA 2003 data for Germany, this paper examines whether immigrants attending primary and secondary school are graded worse in math than comparable natives. Controlling for differences in math skills, class fixed effects regressions and results of a matching approach suggest that immigrants have grade disadvantages in primary education. In Germany, track choice after primary education is mainly determined by the average of grades obtained in math and German. Hence, grade disadvantages could lead to lower level track choice. Immigrants who attend the most common secondary school tracks are not graded differently from natives. |
| Keywords: | Grading; educational system; migration background; matching |
| JEL: | C40 I21 J15 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0223&r=mig |
| By: | Yves Zenou (Stockholm University, IFN, and CREAM) |
| Abstract: | We develop a search-matching model with rural-urban migration and an explicit land market. Wages, job creation, urban housing prices are endogenous and we characterize the steady-state equilibrium. We then consider three different policies: a transportation policy that improves the public transport system in the city, an entry-cost policy that encourages investment in the city and a restricting-migration policy that imposes some costs on migrants. We show that all these policies can increase urban employment but the transportation policy has much more drastic effects. This is because a decrease in commuting costs has both a direct positive effect on land rents, which discourages migrants to move to the city, and a direct negative effect on urban wages, which reduces job creation and thus migration. When these two effects are combined with search frictions, the interactions between the land and the labor markets have amplifying positive effects on urban employment. Thus, improving the transport infrastructure in cities can increase urban employment despite the induced migration from rural areas. |
| Keywords: | Rural-urban migration, transportation policies, entry costs, restricting migration. |
| JEL: | D83 J61 O18 R14 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:201027&r=mig |
| By: | Dandan Zhang; Xin Meng; Dewen Wang |
| Abstract: | Although a significant wage gap has been found in many previous studies between urban workers and rural migrants in Chinese cities, it is still not clear how such a wage gap may evolve over time. This paper uses both a dynamic wage decomposition method and economic assimilation model with pooled cross-sectional data from the China Household Income Project Survey (CHIPS) of 1999 and 2002 to investigate the change in the wage gap between urban workers and rural migrants over time and its determinants in Chinese cities. The estimation results show that (1) there is a widening on-average wage gap between urban workers and rural migrants across the two surveyed years in Chinese cities, mainly caused by the decline in the return to education for rural migrants; (2) rural migrants can catch up with the wage level of their urban counterparts as the time they reside in the host cities increases, but because of the decline in the speed of catching-up over time, rural migrants cannot obtain wages comparable totheir urban counterparts in their life time, and more importantly well-educated rural migrants do not seem to have a significant advantage in this wage assimilation process than the lowlypoorly-educated ones. Both findings suggest that there might be discrimination against well-educated rural migrants which prevents them from obtaining a fair wage in the Chinese urban labour market. |
| Keywords: | Wage differential, Migration |
| JEL: | J31 J61 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:pmmacr:2010-03&r=mig |
| By: | Nekby, Lena (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | For immigrants, intermarriage with natives is assumed to have an assimilating role due to the enhancement of local human capital such a union creates in the form of improved knowledge about host country institutions, language and customs as well as access to native spouses’ networks and contacts. However, marriage choice is endogenous, unobserved factors influence who we marry and our labor market outcomes. This study uses panel data on immigrants and their spouses in Sweden to estimate marriage premiums taking into account individual heterogeneity. This is done for three types of marriages; intermarriage to natives and intra-marriage with immigrants from home countries or other (non-Swedish) countries. A staggered fixed effects model is estimated separately for each marriage type to further disentangle a causal effect of intermarriage (intra-marriage) on annual income from any remaining positive selection effects into respective marriage type. Results from fixed effects estimation indicate that all types of marriage (with one exception) yield positive marriage premiums of similar magnitude. Significant pre-marriage income growth and a lack of postmarriage income growth for those that marry natives suggest that intermarriage premiums are largely due to selection. |
| Keywords: | Intermarriage; Intra-marriage; Income; Immigration; Assimilation; Gender |
| JEL: | F22 J12 J61 |
| Date: | 2010–11–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sunrpe:2010_0023&r=mig |
| By: | Tombe, Trevor |
| Abstract: | Why do some regions grow faster than others? More precisely, why do rates of convergence differ? Recent research points to labour market frictions as a possible answer. This paper expands along this line by investigating how these labour market frictions interact with regional migration. Motivating this are two important observations: (1) farm-to-nonfarm labour reallocation costs have fallen, disproportionately benefiting poorer agricultural regions; and (2) migration flows vary dramatically by region, lowering (raising) marginal productivities in destination (source) regions. Using a general equilibrium model of structural transformation calibrated with US regional data over time, I find regional migration barriers magnify the income convergence effect of labour market improvements. For instance, recent research points to improved nonagricultural skills acquisition as a driver of Southern US convergence with the North. I find the strong link between labour markets and Southern convergence follows from the South’s historically extensive migration restrictions. Finally, the model captures the low convergence rates experienced by other regions, such as the US Midwest. |
| Keywords: | structural change; regional migration; transportation costs; labour market frictions; regional convergence |
| JEL: | O11 N1 E00 R11 |
| Date: | 2010–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:26641&r=mig |
| By: | Guadalupe Serrano (Dept. of Economic Analysis. Faculty of Economics. University of Valencia); Francisco Requena (Dept. of Economic Analysis. Faculty of Economics. University of Valencia); Joan Martin-Montaner (Dept. of Economics. Universitat Jaume I de Castelló) |
| Abstract: | Participation of immigrants in Spanish labour market increased from less than 3 percent in 1996 to more than 13 percent in 2005. We use the factor proportion model of production to examine the impact of such a large labour supply shock on the industrial structure of Spanish regions. The results confirm that, first, labour endowment differences across regions help to explain the pattern of industry specialisation across regions. Second, immigrants and natives act as complementary factors in most industries. Third, the importance of immigration is relatively small compared to production technique changes and idiosyncratic industry changes in explaining the overall changes in industrial structure from 1996 to 2005. |
| Keywords: | Rybczynski Effect, immigration, production specialisation, technological change |
| JEL: | F22 R11 R13 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:1003&r=mig |
| By: | Christian EBEKE |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of international remittances on both the level and the instability of government tax revenue in receiving countries. It investigates in particular whether the presence of a value added tax (VAT) system increases the benefit of the inflows of remittances in terms of high and less volatile tax revenue ratio. This is supported by the fact that remittances are largely used for consumption purposes and contribute to smoothing private consumption. Using a large sample of developing countries observed over the period 1980-2006, and even after factoring in the endogeneity of remittances and VAT adoption, the results highlight that remittances significantly increase both the level and the stability of government tax revenue ratio in receiving countries that have adopted the VAT. |
| Keywords: | Remittances, VAT, Tax revenue, Tax Revenue Instability |
| JEL: | O23 E32 F20 H20 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdi:wpaper:1208&r=mig |
| By: | Aki Kangasharju; Matti Sarvimäki |
| Abstract: | We examine the long-term effects of resettling 11 percent of the Finnish population fromareas ceded to the Soviet Union during World War II. Our empirical strategy exploits featuresof the resettlement policy as a source of plausibly exogenous variation in population growth.The results suggest that a 10 percent increase in the population of a rural location during thewar caused an additional 15 percent growth during the next five decades. The growth wasdriven by migration and led to the expansion of the non-primary sector. The effect is largerfor locations connected to the railway network. |
| Keywords: | Economic geography, agglomeration, migration |
| JEL: | F12 J10 R12 N94 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sercdp:0047&r=mig |
| By: | Jean-Louis COMBES (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Développement International); Christian EBEKE |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the impact of natural disasters on the output growth volatility. Using a large sample of developing countries and mobilizing a dynamic panel data framework, it uncovers a diminishing macroeconomic destabilizing consequence of natural disasters as remittance inflows rise. It appears that the effect of natural disasters disappears for a remittance ratio above 8% of GDP. However, remittances aggravate the destabilizing effects of natural disasters when they exceed 17% of GDP. |
| Keywords: | Natural disasters, output growth volatility, Remittances |
| JEL: | Q54 E32 F20 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdi:wpaper:1207&r=mig |
| By: | Laudeline Auriol |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the results of the first large-scale data collection conducted in the framework of the OECD/UNESCO Institute for Statistics/Eurostat project on Careers of Doctorate Holders (CDH). Doctorate holders represent a crucial human resource for research and innovation. While they benefit from an employment premium, doctoral graduates encounter a number of difficulties on the labour market, notably in terms of working conditions. These difficulties are to some extent linked to the changes affecting the research systems, where employment conditions have become less attractive. Women, whose presence among doctoral graduates has grown over the years, are more affected by these challenges. The labour market of doctoral graduates is more internationalised than that of other tertiary-level graduates and the doctoral population is a highly internationally mobile one. In the European countries for which data are available, 15% to 30% of doctorate holders who are citizens of the reporting country have experienced mobility abroad during the past ten years. Migration and mobility patterns of doctoral graduates are similar to those of other tertiary level and other categories of the population with important flows towards the United States, principally from the Asian countries, and large intra-European flows, notably towards France, Germany and the United Kingdom. While a number of foreign graduates receive their doctorate in the host country, a large share (and the majority in the Western European countries for which data are available) have acquired their doctoral degree out of the host country and experienced mobility afterwards. Mobility of doctorate holders is driven by a variety of reasons that can be academic, job related as well as family and personal.<P>Les carrières des titulaires de doctorat : données d’emploi et de mobilité<BR>Ce document présente les résultats de la première collecte de données de grande échelle menée dans le cadre du projet conjoint OCDE/Institut Statistique de l’UNESCO/Eurostat sur les Carrières des Titulaires de Doctorat (CTD). Les titulaires de doctorat constituent une ressource capitale pour la recherche et l’innovation. Bien que bénéficiant d’un avantage en termes de taux d’emploi, les diplômés de doctorat sont confrontés à un certain nombre d’obstacles sur le marché du travail, notamment en ce qui concerne leurs conditions d’engagement. Ces difficultés sont en partie liées aux transformations affectant les systèmes de recherche, où les conditions d’emploi sont devenues moins attractives. Les femmes, dont la présence parmi les diplômés de doctorat s’est accrue au cours des années, sont davantage affectées par ces écueils. L’internationalisation du marché du travail est plus marquée pour les diplômés de doctorat que pour les autres diplômés de l’université et la population doctorale est fortement mobile au plan international. Dans les pays européens pour lesquels les données sont disponibles, 15% à 30% des ressortissants du pays titulaires d’un doctorat ont effectué une mobilité à l’étranger au cours des dernières années. Les destinations des diplômés de doctorat migrants ou mobiles sont semblables à celles des autres diplômés de l’enseignement supérieur et des autres catégories de population, avec des flux importants vers les États- Unis, principalement en provenance des pays d’Asie, et des flux intra-européens conséquents, notamment vers l’Allemagne, la France et le Royaume-Uni. Bien qu’un certain nombre de diplômés étrangers reçoivent leur doctorat dans le pays hôte, une proportion importante (et la majorité dans les pays d’Europe de l’ouest pour lesquels les données sont disponibles) obtiennent leur diplôme de doctorat en dehors du pays. La mobilité des titulaires de doctorat est motivée par des raisons diverses qui peuvent être académiques, professionnelles aussi bien que familiales et personnelles. |
| Date: | 2010–03–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaaa:2010/4-en&r=mig |