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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Stoyanov, Andrey (York University, Canada); Zubanov, Nikolay (Goethe University Frankfurt) |
| Abstract: | We estimate how much of the gains from productivity spillovers through worker mobility is retained by the hiring firms, by the workers who bring spillovers, and by the other workers. Using linked employer-employee data from Danish manufacturing for the period 1995-2007, we find that at least two-thirds of the total output gain of 0.11% per year is netted by the firms, while the workers who bring spillovers receive at most 6% of it as the wage premium. The large share retained by the firms implies that spillovers through worker mobility are mostly a positive externality to them. |
| Keywords: | productivity spillovers, worker mobility, wages, matched employer-employee data |
| JEL: | D24 J31 J60 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7702&r=mig |
| By: | Poot, Jacques (University of Waikato); Roskruge, Matthew (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | The education services provided in any given country increasingly contribute to human capital that is employed in another country. On the one hand, graduates may seek to obtain the highest return to the knowledge they gained in their home country by working abroad. On the other hand, some students purchase educational services abroad and will subsequently work abroad, or return home to utilize the internationally acquired knowledge in the domestic labour market. In this paper we use data from the 2006-07 Adult Literacy and Life Skills survey in New Zealand to examine how years of foreign and domestic education affect earnings in the labour market. We account for differences in innate ability by aggregating subjective responses to pertinent questions in the survey and by incorporating parents' educational background. Our findings reconfirm the extensive evidence that education gained in a country of birth has generally a lower return in a foreign labour market than the native born receive in this labour market for the equivalent education. Post-settlement education in the host country has a higher return for migrants than for comparable native born. We also find that the highest returns are obtained among those who, after studying abroad, return home to work – a fact for which there has been to date scarce evidence. Thus, exposure to foreign education can lead to a triple gain: for the country where the education is obtained, for the students' home country and for the students themselves. |
| Keywords: | international education, human capital, earnings, selection effects |
| JEL: | F22 I24 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7696&r=mig |
| By: | Kaczmarczyk, Pawel (Warsaw University) |
| Abstract: | Analysis of remittances lies in the very centre of the scientific debate on developmental impacts of migration. On the macro level money sent back home may serve as an important source of capital (as compared to the value of export, Development Assistance or Foreign Direct Investment) but also cause inflationary pressure or disincentives for domestic savings. On the micro level remittances may constitute the major source of income and become a means towards consumption smoothing (migration as survival strategy). Notwithstanding, the very nature of remittances and underlying factors are still under theoretical and empirical discussion. The aim of the article is to assess patterns of remittances sent by Ukrainian migrants staying in Poland, to identify the main motives to remit and thus to understand mechanisms governing this process. The article hypothesizes that remitting depends strongly on the structure of migration (including socio-demographic factors responsible for particular motives to remit) and the type of mobility. Particularly, temporary migrants are expected to remit more likely. Econometric analysis based on an unique survey on migration and remittances completed in 2012 shows that in case of temporary migrants whose life centers are still located in sending communities remittances easily become an important part of contractual intra-family arrangements (with altruistic and exchange motives playing also a role). This outcome is important from the policy perspective because it helps to utilize developmental impacts of longstanding temporary migration strategies. |
| Keywords: | remittances, reasons to remit, Ukrainian migrants in Poland |
| JEL: | F22 F24 J61 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7666&r=mig |
| By: | Duszczyk, Maciej (Warsaw University); Góra, Marek (Warsaw School of Economics); Kaczmarczyk, Pawel (Warsaw University) |
| Abstract: | Poland is a country being exposed to emigration and immigration flows relatively recently. That, among others, results in not fully developed yet institutional infrastructure for managing especially the immigrants flow. In this paper we structure all existing data and other pieces of information on immigrants coming to Poland from the EU Eastern Partnership Countries (EAPs). The vast majority of all types of immigrants from these countries actually originate in Ukraine. On the other hand also a vast majority of them come to Mazowieckie (Warsaw) Voivodeship. The study also confirms Poland is often not a destination country for immigrants. Many of them flow further to the old member states due to the same driver, namely income disparities existing both between EAPs and Poland as well as between Poland and the EU old member states. Nevertheless, the study shows moderate positive impact of immigration fitting demand mostly in agriculture, construction and household services. We analyse an impact of immigration on the domestic labour market in Poland. The immigrants fill gaps existing due to relatively strong and sustained growth contributing to Poland's welfare growth and also due to large scale emigration from Poland to EU old member states. Regulations applying to the immigrants coming to Poland adopted in 2007-2008 are still in force today. They create institutional infrastructure contributing to increasing scale of employment immigration to Poland. There is no sign the regulations will be substantially changed in the future. We rather expect a step by step development of the currently applied immigration policy. |
| Keywords: | immigration, impacts of immigration, Eastern Partnership Countries, institutions |
| JEL: | F22 J15 J61 J63 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7664&r=mig |
| By: | Clark, Ken (University of Manchester); Drinkwater, Stephen (Swansea University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines UK migration policy and recent migration flows from Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries to the UK. Although inflows of migrant workers were relatively large in the mid-2000s, especially amongst Ukrainians, these have fallen following changes to UK immigration policy, especially the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme and the introduction of the Points Based System. As a result, the stock of migrants from EaP countries resident in the UK is small, especially in comparison to migrants from the new member states that joined the EU in 2004 (EUA8 countries). Migrants from the EaP countries also have an older age profile then EUA8 migrants. Employment rates are lower for migrants from EaP countries but they have fairly similar occupational attainment to other European migrants. This may be due to the high average levels of education amongst migrants since a relatively large proportion of migrants to the UK from EaP countries are highly educated. The paper is completed by a discussion of the skill needs of the UK economy. Our conclusions suggest that despite there being scope for increased migration from the EaP countries to help fill skill gaps, it seems very unlikely that the UK will allow large numbers of migrants from the EaP countries to enter the UK in the near future. This is because of the continued sluggish performance of the UK economy and the attitudes towards (increased) immigration displayed by political parties/the current government, as well as the general public. |
| Keywords: | migration, Eastern Partnership Countries, United Kingdom, labour market |
| JEL: | J61 F22 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7665&r=mig |
| By: | Tobias Stoehr |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the wage premia associated with workers' occupational use of foreign languages in Germany. After eliminating time-invariant unobserved heterogeneity and other confounding factors, sizable returns of about 10 percent to applying fluent English skills are found. Returns to occupational use of other foreign languages are, if anything, restricted to a few specialized occupations. Compared to non-migrants, immigrants receive more than twice the return for using English. Returns depend crucially on speaking German well, thus excluding many first generation migrants and are found to occur particularly in service occupations that involve international factor flows. In such occupations it is likely that migrants can apply complementary skills such as international experience that their non-migrant counterparts lack. As immigrants do not earn significant wage premia for applying their native language on the job in addition to those for English, their trade-fostering potential seems to be unlocked by complementary fluency in the two business languages German and English |
| Keywords: | foreign language skills, Migration, wage structure, human capital, occupational choice |
| JEL: | J24 F22 J30 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1880&r=mig |
| By: | Ramos, Raul (University of Barcelona); Surinach, Jordi (University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | Due to ageing population and low birth rates, the European Union (EU) will need to import foreign labour in the next decades. In this context, the EU neighbouring countries (ENC) are the main countries of origin and transit of legal and illegal migration towards Europe. Their economic, cultural and historical links also make them an important potential source of labour force. The objective of this paper is to analyse past and future trends in ENC-EU bilateral migration relationships. With this aim, two different empirical analyses are carried out. First, we specify and estimate a gravity model for nearly 200 countries between 1960 and 2010; and, second, we focus on within EU-27 migration flows before and after the enlargement of the EU. Our results show a clear increase in migratory pressures from ENC to the EU in the near future, but South-South migration will also become more relevant. |
| Keywords: | bilateral migration, EU neighbouring countries, gravity model, push and pull migration factors |
| JEL: | J11 J15 J61 C23 C53 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7700&r=mig |
| By: | Fairlie, Robert W. (University of California, Santa Cruz); Lofstrom, Magnus (Public Policy Institute of California) |
| Abstract: | Immigrants are widely perceived as being highly entrepreneurial and important for economic growth and innovation. This is reflected in immigration policies and many developed countries have created special visas and entry requirements in an attempt to attract immigrant entrepreneurs. Not surprisingly, a large body of research on immigrant entrepreneurship has developed over the years. In this chapter we provide an overview of the economics literature with respect to some of the most fundamental immigrant entrepreneurship issues as well as the empirical methods and data used. The main themes we address are immigrant entrepreneurs' contributions to the economy, entrepreneurship differences across groups and group differences in entrepreneurial success. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship, self-employment, innovation, immigrants, immigration |
| JEL: | J15 J18 J31 J38 J61 L26 M13 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7669&r=mig |
| By: | Sandra Nieto (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Alessia Matano (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Raul Ramos (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to analyse and explain the factors behind the observed differences in skill mismatches (vertical and horizontal) between natives and immigrants in EU countries. Using microdata from the 2007 wave of the Adult Education Survey (AES), different probit models are specified and estimated to analyse differences in the probability of each type of skill mismatch between natives and immigrants. Next, Yun’s decomposition method is used to identify the relative contribution of characteristics and returns to explain the differences between the two groups. Our analysis shows that immigrants are more likely to be skill mismatched than natives, being this difference much larger for vertical mismatch. In this case, the difference is higher for immigrants coming from non-EU countries than for those coming from other EU countries. We find that immigrants from non-EU countries are less valued in the EU labour markets than natives with similar characteristics, a result that is not observed for immigrants from EU countries. These results could be related to the limited transferability of the human capital acquired in non-EU countries. The findings suggest that specific programs to adapt immigrants’ human capital acquired in home country are required to reduce differences in the incidence of skill mismatch and a better integration in the EU labour markets. |
| Keywords: | Immigrant overeducation, vertical mismatch, horizontal mismatch, human capital transferability. JEL classification: J15, J24, J31 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:201318&r=mig |