nep-mig New Economics Papers
on Economics of Human Migration
Issue of 2014‒09‒29
nine papers chosen by
Yuji Tamura
La Trobe University

  1. Microeconomic determinants of skilled migration: The case of Suriname By Dulam, T.; Franses, Ph.H.B.F.
  2. Age at Immigration and High School Dropouts By Sarit Cohen Goldner; Gil S. Epstein
  3. WHAT EXPLAINS PEOPLE’S ATTITUDES TOWARDS IMMIGRANTS? A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ESTONIA AND RUSSIA By Tiiu Paas; Olga Demidova
  4. Pareto-improving Immigration in the Presence of Social Security By Hisahiro Naito
  5. The Effect of Immigration on Wages: Exploiting Exogenous Variation at the National Level By Joan Llull
  6. Brain Drain or Gain? The Structure of Production, Emigration and Growth By Inklaar, Robert Christiaan; Papakonstantinou, Marianna
  7. Immigration, unemployment and GDP in the host country: Bootstrap panel Granger causality analysis on OECD countries By Ekrame Boubtane; Dramane Coulibaly; Christophe Rault
  8. A Right to Enjoy Culture in Face of Climate Change: Implications for "Climate Migrants" By Margaretha Wewerinke
  9. Granting Birthright Citizenship: A Door Opener to Immigrant Children’s Educational Participation and Success By Felfe, Christina; Saurer, Judith

  1. By: Dulam, T.; Franses, Ph.H.B.F.
    Abstract: __Abstract__ Suriname witnesses a brain drain, in particular to the Netherlands. We study the determinants of this brain drain for skilled individuals, where we rely on an adaptation of the survey proposed in Gibson and McKenzie (2011). We managed to interview a unique set of 286 former top students, who studied in Suriname and now work and live either in the Netherlands or Suriname. We find that important determinants for skilled migration are (1) the social economic status, (2) whether the student enjoyed education in the capital city of Suriname, (3) the pure science courses taken at high school, (4) the social attachment with the country, and (5) the difference in economic growth between the home and destination country. We discuss the implications for policy makers.
    Keywords: emigration, return migration, income, brain drain
    JEL: O15 F22 J61
    Date: 2014–09–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ems:eureir:76073&r=mig
  2. By: Sarit Cohen Goldner (Bar-Ilan University); Gil S. Epstein (Bar-Ilan University)
    Abstract: We focus on high school dropout rate among male and female immigrant children. We consider the relationship between the dropout rate and age of arrival of the immigrants. Using repeated cross sectional data from the Israeli Labor Force Surveys of 1996-2011 we show that the share of high school dropouts among immigrant children who arrived from the Former Soviet Union during 1989-1994 is at least as double than among natives in the same age group. Further, we show that among immigrant youth there is a monotonic negative relation between age at arrival and the share of high school dropouts. To understand our results we present a theoretical framework that links between age at arrival in the host country, language proficiency, quality of education and wages.
    Keywords: Immigrants,age at arrival, high-school dropouts.
    JEL: I21 J24 J61
    Date: 2014–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:biu:wpaper:2014-05&r=mig
  3. By: Tiiu Paas; Olga Demidova
    Abstract: The paper focuses on a comparative analysis of people’s attitudes towards immigrants’ role in several aspects of countries’ life depending on individual’s socio-demographic and economic characteristics in Estonia and Russia. The empirical part of the paper relies on the European Social Survey (ESS) fifth round database. The results of the study show that Estonian peoples’ attitudes towards immigrants are, on average, better in all aspects of the country’s life – economy, culture and the country as a living place, compared to Russia. Both economic and non-economic factors explain the observed variation of individual’s opinions about the role of immigrants in countries’ life. Ethnic minorities, religious people and people with higher income are more tolerant to immigrants in both countries. Socio-demographic characteristics such as age, gender and education are valid determinants of people’s attitudes towards immigrants only in Estonia. Better educated people have more positive attitudes towards immigrants compared to less educated people in the case of Estonia but not Russia. The results of the analysis therefore highlight the necessity to take different factors into account for the design of migration and integration policies in the countries with ethnically diverse population.
    Keywords: attitudes towards immigrants, European Social Survey, comparative analysis, Estonia, Russia
    JEL: P2 C31 C35 O40
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtk:febawb:94&r=mig
  4. By: Hisahiro Naito
    Abstract: The effect of accepting more immigrants on welfare in the presence of a pay-as-you-go social security system is analyzed theoretically and quantitatively. First, it is shown that if initially there exist intergenerational government transfers from the young to the old, the government can lead an economy to the (modified) golden rule level within a finite time in a Pareto-improving way by increasing the percentage of immigrants to natives (PITN). Second, using the computational overlapping generation model, I calculate both the welfare gain of increasing the PITN from 15.5 percent to 25.5 percent and years needed to reach the (modified) golden rule level in a Pareto-improving way in a model economy. The simulation shows that the present value of the Pareto-improving welfare gain of increasing the PITN comprises 23 percent of the initial GDP. It takes 112 years for the model economy to reach the golden rule level in a Pareto-improving way.
    Date: 2014–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tsu:tewpjp:2014-003&r=mig
  5. By: Joan Llull (MOVE Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona)
    Abstract: This paper estimates the effect of immigration on native wages at the national level taking into account the endogenous allocation of immigrants across skill cells. Time-varying exogenous variation across skill cells for a given country is provided by interactions of push factors, distance, and skill cell dummies: distance mitigates the effect of push factors more severely for less educated and middle experienced. Because the analysis focuses on the United States and Canada, I propose a two-stage approach (Sub-Sample 2SLS) that estimates the fiist stage regression with an augmented sample of destination countries, and the second stage equation with the restricted sub-sample of interest. I derive asymptotic results for this estimator, and suggest several applications beyond the current one. The empirical analysis indicates a substantial bias in estimated OLS wage elasticities to immigration. Sub-sample 2SLS estimates average - 1:2 and are very stable to the use of alternative instruments.
    Keywords: Immigration, Wages, Sub-Sample Two Stage Least Squares
    JEL: J31 J61
    Date: 2014–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1436&r=mig
  6. By: Inklaar, Robert Christiaan; Papakonstantinou, Marianna (Groningen University)
    Abstract: There is growing evidence that the opportunity to emigrate stimulates human capital formation, leading to a net increase in human capital, a ?brain gain? rather than a ?brain drain?. In this paper, we present evidence that ?brain gain? is more widespread than currently thought. We find that countries with higher emigration rates show faster growth in knowledge-intensive manufacturing industries, implying that migration leads to increases in human capital. We find that more countries benefit than previously found, in part, because of increases in not only the number of high-skilled but also of medium-skilled workers.
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:rugggd:gd-145&r=mig
  7. By: Ekrame Boubtane (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne, CERDI - Centre d'études et de recherches sur le developpement international - CNRS : UMR6587 - Université d'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand I); Dramane Coulibaly (EconomiX - CNRS : UMR7166 - Université Paris X - Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense); Christophe Rault (LEO - Laboratoire d'économie d'Orleans - CNRS : UMR6221 - Université d'Orléans)
    Abstract: This paper examines the causality relationship between immigration, unemployment and economic growth of the host country. We employ the panel Granger causality testing approach of Kónya (2006) that is based on SUR systems and Wald tests with country specific bootstrap critical values. This approach allows to test for Granger-causality on each individual panel member separately by taking into account the contemporaneous correlation across countries. Using annual data over the 1980-2005 period for 22 OECD countries, we find that, only in Portugal, unemployment negatively causes immigration, while in any country, immigration does not cause unemployment. On the other hand, our results show that, in four countries (France, Iceland, Norway and the United Kingdom), growth positively causes immigration, whereas in any country, immigration does not cause growth.
    Keywords: Immigration; growth; unemployment; Granger causality
    Date: 2013–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00800970&r=mig
  8. By: Margaretha Wewerinke (Cambridge Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Research, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge; European University Institute, Florence, Italy)
    Abstract: This paper considers the extent to which international human rights law offers protection to "climate migrants" irrespective of whether these persons would qualify for refugee status. In contrast with most existing literature, it does not focus on States’ obligations arising from the right to life or the prohibition of inhumane treatment. Instead, the paper focuses on the right of persons belonging to minorities to enjoy their culture as protected under Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The paper peruses the Human Rights Committee's interpretation of Article 27, with particular attention to its link with the rights of peoples to self-determination and to freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources as protected under Article 1 of the Covenant. Based on this analysis the paper challenges the presupposition that a normative gap exists, pointing instead at a need for further research into the interpretation of norms and obstacles to enforcement.
    Keywords: Cultural rights, Human rights, Climate change, International Law
    JEL: K32 K33
    Date: 2013–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ccc:wpaper:007&r=mig
  9. By: Felfe, Christina; Saurer, Judith
    Abstract: Does granting birthright citizenship help immigrant children integrating in the host country's educational system? We address this question using a reform of the German naturalization law in 1999 that entitled children born after January 1, 2000 with birthright citizenship. We use a difference-in-difference design that compares children born shortly before and after the cut-off in years of policy change and years where no policy change took place. Our empirical analysis relies on administrative data from school entrance examinations and on the German Micro Census. We find positive effects on immigrant children's educational participation, both in non-mandatory preschool and upper secondary school. In addition, birthright citizenship enhances children's socio-behavioral development.
    Keywords: Education, Immigration Laws, Difference-in-Difference
    JEL: I21
    Date: 2014–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usg:econwp:2014:31&r=mig

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