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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Isabelle Chort (LEDa, UMR DIAL-Paris-Dauphine); Philippe De Vreyer (Université Paris-Dauphine, PSL Research University,IRD, LEDa, DIAL); Thomas Zuber (Columbia University. Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies/History, New York) |
| Abstract: | Using individual panel data from Senegal collected in 2006-07 and 2010-12, this study explores internal migration patterns of men and women. The data used contain the GPS coordinates of individuals' location, allowing us to calculate precise migration distances and map individual mobilities.Women are found to be more likely to migrate than men. However, they move less far and are more likely to migrate to rural areas, especially when originating from rural areas. Education is found to increase the likelihood of migration to urban destinations, especially for women. An analysis of the motives for migrating con rms the existence of gendered migration patterns, as female mobility is mostly linked to marriage while labor mobility is frequently observed for men. |
| Keywords: | Internal migration ; gender; rural-urban migration; Senegal. |
| JEL: | R23 O15 O18 J16 |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dia:wpaper:dt201702&r=mig |
| By: | Anda David (AFD and DIAL, Paris); Mohamed Ali Marouani (Paris1-Pantheon-Sorbonne University (IEDES, UMR Développement et Société), DIAL and ERF) |
| Abstract: | This article focuses on the external effects of emigration on non-migrants and particularly on the interactions with labor market outcomes in Tunisia before and after the revolution. Using the new Tunisia Labor Market Panel Survey (TLMPS) we conduct an in-depth analysis of the structure and dynamics of migration in Tunisia including the profile of migrants and their origin households, mainly in terms of skills and spatial composition. We also investigate transition matrices, employment status, income for current migrants and returnees and the evolution of remittances. Our analysis confirms the role of emigration as a security valve for the Tunisian labor market. Moreover, origin households of migrants have a significantly higher wealth index. Remittances play a significant role for the Tunisian economy and at the household level. Our analysis also tends to confirm the effects of remittances on labor supply of non migrants which can have a negative impact on Tunisia’s unemployment rate when a crisis in destination countries affects negatively the remittance rate. |
| Keywords: | International migration, labor market, remittances, returnees, revolution, Tunisia. |
| JEL: | F22 F24 J21 |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dia:wpaper:dt201703&r=mig |
| By: | Bernt Bratsberg (Stiftelsen Frischsenteret for samfunnsøkonomisk forskning Universitetet i Oslo); Oddbjørn Raaum (Stiftelsen Frischsenteret for samfunnsøkonomisk forskning Universitetet i Oslo); Knut Røed (Stiftelsen Frischsenteret for samfunnsøkonomisk forskning Universitetet i Oslo) |
| Abstract: | We examine patterns of labor market integration across immigrant groups. The study draws on Norwegian longitudinal administrative data covering labor earnings and social insurance claims over a 25†year period and presents a comprehensive picture of immigrant†native employment and social insurance differentials by admission class and by years since entry. For refugees and family immigrants from low†income source countries, we uncover encouraging signs of labor market integration during an initial period upon admission, but after just 5†10 years, the integration process goes into reverse with widening immigrantnative employment differentials and rising rates of immigrant social insurance dependency. Yet, the analysis reveals substantial heterogeneity within admission class and points to an important role of host†country schooling for successful immigrant labor market integration. |
| Date: | 2017–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1702&r=mig |
| By: | Patt, Alexander; Flores, Miguel; Ruhose, Jens; Wiederhold, Simon |
| Abstract: | The current literature that investigates the selection of Mexican migrants to the United States focuses on selectivity in educational attainment and earnings. Notably absent from the literature is evidence on occupational selection, because it is unclear how to measure the skill content of Mexican occupations. However, any such research would yield important insights regarding the selection on labor-market skills that Mexicans carry with them to the United States. We use data from a representative Mexican worker survey—equivalent to the U.S. O*NET—to develop novel measures of cognitive and manual skills for migrants based on their pre-migration occupational history, and compare them to the skills of Mexicans who do not migrate. Using detailed longitudinal micro-level data from two Mexican labor surveys, the Mexican Migration Project, and the Mexican Family Life Survey, our analysis consistently shows that migrants have lower cognitive and higher manual skills than non-migrants. This finding is robust to controlling for age, gender, and educational attainment and also holds within broader occupational groups. Despite substantial changes in emigration rates over time, we also document that occupational selection is highly persistent. |
| JEL: | F22 O15 J61 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc16:145844&r=mig |
| By: | Höckel, Lisa Sofie |
| Abstract: | The cultural diversity induced by migration has been proven beneficial to host countries economies and the labor market performance of second generation immigrants is a crucial determinant of integration. Labor market returns to different cultural traits, however, have been rarely studied within the economic literature. Therefore, this study provides insights on the link between the level of collectivsm at the country of ancestry and labor market outcome of second generation immigrants in the US. Using 1994 - 2014 census data, we analyze the impact of inherited cultural differences on the economic outcome of more than 21,000 male homogamous second generation immigrants. We use the disease environment of the country of ancestry as a measurement for collectivism and find that higher scores of collectivism are associated with higher income earned in the US. We demonstrate that labor force participation is one of the main determinants of the positive impact of collectivism on earnings. Further, we are the first to investigate occupational choice as a channel through which inherited cultural values affect individuals' behavior in the labor market. We show that second generation immigrants with an individualistic ancestry are more likely to self-select into jobs which require individualistic abilities such as independence. Second generation collectivists prefer jobs which demand collectivistic traits such as sensibility towards others. We argue that second generation immigrants with a collectivistic ancestry take different jobs than individualists due to inherent comparative advantages in performing particular productive tasks. Overall they perform better than their individualistic counterparts. Our findings are robust to the use of other measures of collectivism and different data compositions. |
| JEL: | A13 F22 J24 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc16:145856&r=mig |
| By: | Steinmayr, Andreas |
| Abstract: | The massive increase in the number of arriving refugees in Europe in 2015 creates enormous economic and political challenges in the receiving countries. An important concern is that the inflow of refugees increases the support for far-right, nationalist, anti-immigration parties. This paper studies a natural experiment in an Austrian state to identify the causal effect of exposure to refugees in the neighborhood on the support for the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). Before the local and state elections in September 2015 the inflow of refugees dominated the entire pre-electoral discussion and the FPÖ - with a fierce anti-asylum campaign - doubled its vote share in this election. At the time of the election, 42 percent of Upper Austrian communities hosted refugees, which provides variation in the exposure to refugees at the community level. To account for the potential endogeneity in the distribution of refugees, I use the availability of existing group accommodations as instrumental variable. To cope with the sudden inflow of large number of refugees, these buildings were used as accommodation and their existence strongly increases the probability of refugee presence. In line with the contact hypothesis I find that hosting refugees in the community decreases the support for the FPÖ by 4.42 percentage points in state elections and increases the optimism in the population that the integration of refugees can be managed. The effects are robust to a series of sensitivity and placebo checks. |
| JEL: | D72 J15 P16 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc16:145825&r=mig |
| By: | Martinez, Isabel Z. |
| Abstract: | Tax competition raises the question to which extent taxpayers respond to differences in income tax rates by migrating to low-tax areas. This paper analyzes a large, two-step tax reform in the canton of Obwalden in central Switzerland in 2006 and 2008. The canton first introduced a regressive income tax scheme with the explicit purpose of attracting affluent taxpayers, followed by a change to a flat rate tax, thereby lowering taxes for all taxpayers. Using individual tax data from the cantonal tax administration, I apply a 2SLS approach to estimate how responsive migration was to the tax reduction. I estimate an elasticity of the stock of rich taxpayers in the canton with respect to the average net-of-tax rate of 2.4 in the first two years after the reform, increasing to 3.5 over the five post-reform years. The corresponding elsticities of the inflow of rich taxpayers are even larger. These estimates are larger than what the few studies on tax induced mobility elasticity have found so far. I can further rule out that these results are due to an exogenous positive income shock to top incomes. DiD estimations comparing the share of rich taxpayers and net income per taxpayer in Obwalden to two neighboring cantons confirm that the reform was successful in increasing the canton's tax base. The large elasticities can be explained by two aspects. First, by the sizable pool of intentionally treated and the prevailing residence-based taxation, as opposed to source-based taxation. Through relocating to Obwalden, any Swiss and European citizen could take advantage of this tax scheme. Second, by the initially low share of rich taxpayers in Obwalden and the small size of the canton. |
| JEL: | H71 H24 H31 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc16:145643&r=mig |