Economic results of migration
The economic results of migration impact the economies of both the sending and receiving countries.
Economic impact on natives
According to David Card, Christian Dustmann, and Ian Preston, "most existing studies of the economic impacts of immigration suggest these impacts are small, and on average benefit the native population".[1] In a survey of the existing literature, Örn B Bodvarsson and Hendrik Van den Berg write, "a comparison of the evidence from all the studies... makes it clear that, with very few exceptions, there is no strong statistical support for the view held by many members of the public, namely that immigration has an adverse effect on native-born workers in the destination country."[2]
Studies show small but more mixed results (negative, positive or no impact), for low-skilled natives.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Research also suggests that cultural diversity has a net positive effect on the productivity of natives.[11] A literature review of the economic impacts of immigration finds that the net fiscal impact of migrants varies across studies but that the most credible analyses typically find small and positive fiscal effects on average.[7] According to the authors, "the net social impact of an immigrant over his or her lifetime depends substantially and in predictable ways on the immigrant's age at arrival, education, reason for migration, and similar".[7] Studies of refugees' impact on native welfare are scant but the existing literature shows mixed results (negative, positive and no significant effects on native welfare).[4][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]
Research on the economic effects of undocumented immigrants is even more scant but existing studies suggests that the effects are positive for the native population.[20][21] A 2015 study shows that "increasing deportation rates and tightening border control weakens low-skilled labor markets, increasing unemployment of native low-skilled workers. Legalization, instead, decreases the unemployment rate of low-skilled natives and increases income per native."[6]
United States
A survey of economists shows a consensus behind the view that high-skilled immigration makes the average American better off.[22] A survey of the same economists also shows strong support behind the notion that low-skilled immigration makes the average American better off.[23]
Overall immigration has not had much effect on native wage inequality[24] but low-skill immigration has been linked to greater income inequality in the native population.[25] According to labor economist Giovanni Peri, the existing literature suggests that there are no economic reasons why the American labor market could not easily absorb 100,000 Syrian refugees in a year.[26][27][28]
Impact on the migrants and global poverty
Research suggests that migration is beneficial both to the receiving and sending countries.[29] According to one study, welfare increases in both types of countries: "welfare impact of observed levels of migration is substantial, at about 5% to 10% for the main receiving countries and about 10% in countries with large incoming remittances".[29] Studies show that the elimination of barriers to migration would have profound effects on world GDP, with estimates of gains ranging between 67–147%.[30][31][32] According to Branko Milanovic, country of residency is by far the most important determinant of global income inequality, which suggests that the reduction in labor barriers would significantly reduce global income inequality.[33][34] A study of equivalent workers in the United States and 42 developing countries found that "median wage gap for a male, unskilled (9 years of schooling), 35 year-old, urban formal sector worker born and educated in a developing country is P$15,400 per year at purchasing power parity".[35] A 2014 survey of the existing literature on emigration finds that a 10 percent emigrant supply shock would increase wages in the sending country by 2–5.5%.[36] According to economists Michael Clemens and Lant Pratchett, "permitting people to move from low-productivity places to high-productivity places appears to be by far the most efficient generalized policy tool, at the margin, for poverty reduction".[37] A successful two-year in situ anti-poverty program, for instance, helps poor people make in a year what is the equivalent of working one day in the developed world.[37] Research on a migration lottery that allowed Tongans to move to New Zealand found that the lottery winners saw a 263% increase in income from migrating (after only one year in New Zealand) relative to the unsuccessful lottery entrants.[38] A longer-term study on the Tongan lottery winners finds that they "continue to earn almost 300 percent more than non-migrants, have better mental health, live in households with more than 250 percent higher expenditure, own more vehicles, and have more durable assets".[39] A conservative estimate of their lifetime gain to migration is NZ$315,000 in net present value terms (approximately US$237,000).[39] A slight reduction in the barriers to labor mobility between the developing and developed world would do more to reduce poverty in the developing world than any remaining trade liberalization.[40]
Impact on trade and innovation
Research also finds that migration leads to greater trade in goods and services.[41][42] Using 130 years of data on historical migrations to the United States, one study finds "that a doubling of the number of residents with ancestry from a given foreign country relative to the mean increases by 4.2 percentage points the probability that at least one local firm invests in that country, and increases by 31% the number of employees at domestic recipients of FDI from that country. The size of these effects increases with the ethnic diversity of the local population, the geographic distance to the origin country, and the ethno-linguistic fractionalization of the origin country."[43] Mass migration can also boost innovation and growth,[44][45] as shown by the Huguenot diaspora in Prussia,[46] German Jewish emigration to the United States.[47] Immigrants have been linked to greater invention and innovation in the U.S.[48] Research also shows that labor migration increases human capital.[49] Foreign doctoral students are a major source of innovation in the American economy.[50]
Impact on the sending country
Remittances increase living standards in the country of origin. Remittances are a large share of the GDP of many developing countries.[51][51] A study on remittances to Mexico found that remittances lead to a substantial increase in the availability of public services in Mexico, surpassing government spending in some localities.[52]
Research finds that emigration and low migration barriers has net positive effects on human capital formation in the sending countries.[49][53][54][55] There was found to be a "brain gain", instead of a "brain drain", because of emigration.
One study finds that sending countries benefit indirectly in the long run on the emigration of skilled workers because those skilled workers are able to innovate more in developed countries, which the sending countries are able to benefit on as a positive externality. Greater emigration of skilled workers consequently leads to greater economic growth and welfare improvements in the long-run.[56] The negative effects of high-skill emigration remain largely unfounded. According to economist Michael Clemens, it has not been shown that restrictions on high-skill emigration reduce shortages in the countries of origin.[57]
Research also suggests that emigration, remittances and return migration can have a positive impact on political institutions and democratization in the country of origin.[58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65] Research also shows that remittances can lower the risk of civil war in the country of origin.[66] Return migration from countries with liberal gender norms has been associated with the transfer of liberal gender norms to the home country.[67]
Research suggests that emigration causes an increase in the wages of those who remain in the country of origin. A 2014 survey of the existing literature on emigration finds that a 10 percent emigrant supply shock would increase wages in the sending country by 2–5.5%.[36] A study of emigration from Poland shows that it led to a slight increase in wages for high- and medium-skilled workers for remaining Poles.[68] A 2013 study finds that emigration from Eastern Europe after the 2004 EU enlargement increased the wages of remaining young workers in the country of origin by 6%, while it had no effect on the wages of old workers.[69] The wages of Lithuanian men increased as a result of emigration after the Lithuanian accession to the European Union in 2004.[70] Return migration is associated with greater household firm revenues.[71]
Some research shows that the remittance effect is not strong enough to make the remaining natives in countries with high emigration flows better off.[72]
It has been argued that high-skill emigration causes labour shortages in the country of origin. This remains unsupported in the academic literature though.
Push factors and pull factors
Push factors
Push factors are reasons that push people away from their countries. Examples of push factors are:
- political fears
- not enough jobs
- few opportunities
- natural disasters
- wars
- unhappy life
- shortage of food
- Insecurity
- scarcity of land etc
Pull factors
Pull factors are reasons that pull people to other countries. Examples of pull factors are:
- A better way of life
- Chances of a job
- Improved living conditions
- Education
- Better housing
- Medical care
- Family links
- Religious freedom
- Fertile land
See also
- Economic impact of immigration to Canada
- Immigration to the United States
- Economic impact of illegal immigration to the United States
References
- ^ Card, David; Dustmann, Christian; Preston, Ian (2012-02-01). "Immigration, Wages, and Compositional Amenities" (PDF). Journal of the European Economic Association. 10 (1): 78–119. doi:10.1111/j.1542-4774.2011.01051.x. ISSN 1542-4774.
- ^ Bodvarsson, Örn B; Van den Berg, Hendrik (2013-01-01). The economics of immigration: theory and policy. New York; Heidelberg [u.a.]: Springer. p. 157. ISBN 9781461421153. OCLC 852632755.
- ^ Card, David (1990). "The Impact of the Mariel Boatlift on the Miami Labor Market". Industrial and Labor Relations Review. 43 (2): 245–257. doi:10.1177/001979399004300205.
- ^ a b Foged, Mette; Peri, Giovanni (2016). "Immigrants' Effect on Native Workers: New Analysis on Longitudinal Data". American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. 8 (2): 1–34. doi:10.1257/app.20150114. hdl:10419/110686.
- ^ Borjas, George J. (2003-11-01). "The Labor Demand Curve is Downward Sloping: Reexamining the Impact of Immigration on the Labor Market". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 118 (4): 1335–1374. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.183.1227. doi:10.1162/003355303322552810. ISSN 0033-5533.
- ^ a b Chassamboulli, Andri; Peri, Giovanni (2015-10-01). "The labor market effects of reducing the number of illegal immigrants". Review of Economic Dynamics. 18 (4): 792–821. doi:10.1016/j.red.2015.07.005.
- ^ a b c Kerr, Sari Pekkala; Kerr, William R. (2011). "Economic Impacts of Immigration: A Survey" (PDF). Finnish Economic Papers. 24 (1): 1–32.
- ^ Longhi, Simonetta; Nijkamp, Peter; Poot, Jacques (2005-07-01). "A Meta-Analytic Assessment of the Effect of Immigration on Wages". Journal of Economic Surveys. 19 (3): 451–477. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.594.7035. doi:10.1111/j.0950-0804.2005.00255.x. ISSN 1467-6419.
- ^ Longhi, Simonetta; Nijkamp, Peter; Poot, Jacques (2010-10-01). "Meta-Analyses of Labour-Market Impacts of Immigration: Key Conclusions and Policy Implications". Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy. 28 (5): 819–833. doi:10.1068/c09151r. ISSN 0263-774X.
- ^ Okkerse, Liesbet (2008-02-01). "How to Measure Labour Market Effects of Immigration: A Review". Journal of Economic Surveys. 22 (1): 1–30. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6419.2007.00533.x. ISSN 1467-6419.
- ^ Ottaviano, Gianmarco I. P.; Peri, Giovanni (2006-01-01). "The economic value of cultural diversity: evidence from US cities". Journal of Economic Geography. 6 (1): 9–44. doi:10.1093/jeg/lbi002. hdl:10419/117915. ISSN 1468-2702.
- ^ "Refugee Economies: Rethinking Popular Assumptions – Refugee Studies Centre". www.rsc.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
- ^ "Economic Impact of Refugees in the Cleveland Area" (PDF).
- ^ Del Carpio, Ximena V.; Wagner, Mathis (2015-08-24). The Impact of Syrians Refugees on the Turkish Labor Market. Policy Research Working Papers. The World Bank. doi:10.1596/1813-9450-7402.
- ^ Maystadt, Jean-François; Verwimp, Philip (2014). "Winners and Losers among a Refugee-Hosting Population". Economic Development and Cultural Change. 62 (4): 769–809. doi:10.1086/676458. JSTOR 10.1086/676458.
- ^ "Immigration and Prices: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Syrian Refugees in Turkey" (PDF).
- ^ Ruist, Joakim (2013). "The labor market impact of refugee immigration in Sweden 1999–2007" (PDF).
- ^ Fakih, Ali; Ibrahim, May (2016-01-02). "The impact of Syrian refugees on the labor market in neighboring countries: empirical evidence from Jordan". Defence and Peace Economics. 27 (1): 64–86. doi:10.1080/10242694.2015.1055936. hdl:10419/130351. ISSN 1024-2694.
- ^ "What are the impacts of Syrian refugees on host community welfare in Turkey ? a subnational poverty analysis (English) | The World Bank". documents.worldbank.org. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
- ^ Palivos, Theodore (2008-06-04). "Welfare effects of illegal immigration". Journal of Population Economics. 22 (1): 131–144. doi:10.1007/s00148-007-0182-3. ISSN 0933-1433.
- ^ Liu, Xiangbo (2010-12-01). "On the macroeconomic and welfare effects of illegal immigration" (PDF). Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control. 34 (12): 2547–2567. doi:10.1016/j.jedc.2010.06.030.
- ^ "Poll Results | IGM Forum". www.igmchicago.org. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
- ^ "Poll Results | IGM Forum". www.igmchicago.org. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
- ^ Card, David (2009-04-01). "Immigration and Inequality". American Economic Review. 99 (2): 1–21. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.412.9244. doi:10.1257/aer.99.2.1. ISSN 0002-8282.
- ^ Xu, Ping; Garand, James C.; Zhu, Ling (2015-09-23). "Imported Inequality? Immigration and Income Inequality in the American States". State Politics & Policy Quarterly. 16 (2): 147–171. doi:10.1177/1532440015603814. ISSN 1532-4400.
- ^ Giovanni Peri. "No reasons to reject refugees". SoundCloud. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
- ^ Cortes, Kalena E. (2004-03-01). "Are Refugees Different from Economic Immigrants? Some Empirical Evidence on the Heterogeneity of Immigrant Groups in the United States". Rochester, NY. SSRN 524605.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ "Much ado about nothing? The economic impact of refugee 'invasions'". The Brookings Institution. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
- ^ a b di Giovanni, Julian; Levchenko, Andrei A.; Ortega, Francesc (2015-02-01). "A Global View of Cross-Border Migration". Journal of the European Economic Association. 13 (1): 168–202. doi:10.1111/jeea.12110. hdl:10230/22196. ISSN 1542-4774.
- ^ Iregui, Ana Maria (2003-01-01). "Efficiency Gains from the Elimination of Global Restrictions on Labour Mobility: An Analysis using a Multiregional CGE Model".
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ Clemens, Michael A (2011-08-01). "Economics and Emigration: Trillion-Dollar Bills on the Sidewalk?". Journal of Economic Perspectives. 25 (3): 83–106. doi:10.1257/jep.25.3.83. ISSN 0895-3309.
- ^ Hamilton, B.; Whalley, J. (1984-02-01). "Efficiency and distributional implications of global restrictions on labour mobility: calculations and policy implications". Journal of Development Economics. 14 (1–2): 61–75. doi:10.1016/0304-3878(84)90043-9. ISSN 0304-3878. PMID 12266702.
- ^ Milanovic, Branko (2014-01-07). "Global Inequality of Opportunity: How Much of Our Income Is Determined by Where We Live?". Review of Economics and Statistics. 97 (2): 452–460. doi:10.1162/REST_a_00432. hdl:10986/21484. ISSN 0034-6535.
- ^ Milanovic, Branko (2016-04-20). "There is a trade-off between citizenship and migration". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
- ^ Clemens, Michael (2009-01-15). "The Place Premium: Wage Differences for Identical Workers Across the US Border".
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ a b "Emigration and wages in source countries: a survey of the empirical literature : International Handbook on Migration and Economic Development". www.elgaronline.com. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
- ^ a b "The New Economic Case for Migration Restrictions: An Assessment". www.iza.org. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
- ^ McKenzie, David; Stillman, Steven; Gibson, John (2010-06-01). "How Important is Selection? Experimental VS. Non-Experimental Measures of the Income Gains from Migration". Journal of the European Economic Association. 8 (4): 913–945. doi:10.1111/j.1542-4774.2010.tb00544.x. hdl:10289/1638. ISSN 1542-4774.
- ^ a b Gibson, John; Mckenzie, David J.; Rohorua, Halahingano; Stillman, Steven (2015-01-01). "The long-term impacts of international migration : evidence from a lottery". The World Bank.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ Walmsley, Terrie L.; Winters, L. Alan (2005-01-01). "Relaxing the Restrictions on the Temporary Movement of Natural Persons: A Simulation Analysis". Journal of Economic Integration. 20 (4): 688–726. doi:10.11130/jei.2005.20.4.688. JSTOR 23000667.
- ^ "Cross-border movement of persons stimulates trade". VoxEU.org. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
- ^ Bratti, Massimiliano; Benedictis, Luca De; Santoni, Gianluca (2014-04-18). "On the pro-trade effects of immigrants" (PDF). Review of World Economics. 150 (3): 557–594. doi:10.1007/s10290-014-0191-8. ISSN 1610-2878.
- ^ Burchardi, Konrad B.; Chaney, Thomas; Hassan, Tarek A. (2016). "Migrants, Ancestors, and Investment". NBER Working Paper No. 21847. doi:10.3386/w21847.
- ^ Hunt, Jennifer; Gauthier-Loiselle, Marjolaine (2010). "How Much Does Immigration Boost Innovation?". American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics. 2 (2): 31–56. doi:10.1257/mac.2.2.31.
- ^ Fairlie, Robert. "Open for Business" (PDF). The Partnership for a New American Economy. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
- ^ Hornung, Erik (2014). "Immigration and the Diffusion of Technology: The Huguenot Diaspora in Prussia". American Economic Review. 104 (1): 84–122. doi:10.1257/aer.104.1.84. hdl:10419/37227.
- ^ Moser, Petra; Voena, Alessandra; Waldinger, Fabian (2014). "German Jewish Émigrés and US Invention" (PDF). American Economic Review. 104 (10): 3222–3255. doi:10.1257/aer.104.10.3222.
- ^ Kerr, William R. (2010-01-01). "Breakthrough inventions and migrating clusters of innovation". Journal of Urban Economics. Special Issue: Cities and Entrepreneurship Sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (www.kauffman.org). 67 (1): 46–60. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.461.9614. doi:10.1016/j.jue.2009.09.006.
- ^ a b Dinkelman, Taryn; Mariotti, Martine (2016). "The Long Run Effects of Labor Migration on Human Capital Formation in Communities of Origin" (PDF). American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. 8 (4): 1–35. doi:10.1257/app.20150405.
- ^ Stuen, Eric T.; Mobarak, Ahmed Mushfiq; Maskus, Keith E. (2012-12-01). "Skilled Immigration and Innovation: Evidence from Enrolment Fluctuations in US Doctoral Programmes". The Economic Journal. 122 (565): 1143–1176. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0297.2012.02543.x. ISSN 1468-0297.
- ^ a b Ratha, Dilip; Silwal (2012). "Remittance flows in 2011" (PDF). Migration and Development Brief – Migration and Remittances Unit, the World Bank. 18: 1–3.
- ^ Adida, Claire L.; Girod, Desha M. (2011-01-01). "Do Migrants Improve Their Hometowns? Remittances and Access to Public Services in Mexico, 1995–2000". Comparative Political Studies. 44 (1): 3–27. doi:10.1177/0010414010381073. ISSN 0010-4140.
- ^ Shrestha, Slesh A. (2016-04-01). "No Man Left Behind: Effects of Emigration Prospects on Educational and Labour Outcomes of Non-migrants". The Economic Journal. 127 (600): 495–521. doi:10.1111/ecoj.12306. ISSN 1468-0297.
- ^ Beine, Michel; Docquier, Fréderic; Rapoport, Hillel (2008-04-01). "Brain Drain and Human Capital Formation in Developing Countries: Winners and Losers". The Economic Journal. 118 (528): 631–652. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0297.2008.02135.x. hdl:2078.1/5768. ISSN 1468-0297.
- ^ Batista, Catia; Lacuesta, Aitor; Vicente, Pedro C. (2012-01-01). "Testing the 'brain gain' hypothesis: Micro evidence from Cape Verde". Journal of Development Economics. 97 (1): 32–45. doi:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2011.01.005. hdl:10419/44193.
- ^ Xu, Rui. "High-Skilled Migration and Global Innovation" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-01-04.
- ^ Clemens, Michael; Development, Center for Global; USA (2015). "Smart policy toward high-skill emigrants". IZA World of Labor. doi:10.15185/izawol.203.
- ^ Docquier, Frédéric; Lodigiani, Elisabetta; Rapoport, Hillel; Schiff, Maurice (2016-05-01). "Emigration and democracy" (PDF). Journal of Development Economics. 120: 209–223. doi:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2015.12.001.
- ^ Escribà-Folch, Abel; Meseguer, Covadonga; Wright, Joseph (2015-09-01). "Remittances and Democratization". International Studies Quarterly. 59 (3): 571–586. doi:10.1111/isqu.12180. ISSN 1468-2478.
- ^ "Mounir Karadja". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
- ^ "Can emigration lead to political change in poor countries? It did in 19th century Sweden: Guest Post by Mounir Karadja". Impact Evaluations. Retrieved 2015-12-04.
- ^ Tuccio, Michele; Wahba, Jackline; Hamdouch, Bachir (2016-01-01). "International Migration: Driver of Political and Social Change?". Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ "Migration, Political Institutions, and Social Networks in Mozambique".
- ^ Batista, Catia; Vicente, Pedro C. (2011-01-01). "Do Migrants Improve Governance at Home? Evidence from a Voting Experiment". The World Bank Economic Review. 25 (1): 77–104. doi:10.1093/wber/lhr009. hdl:10419/36182. ISSN 0258-6770.
- ^ Mahmoud, Omar; Toman; Rapoport, Hillel; Steinmayr, Andreas; Trebesch, Christoph (2013-09-18). "The Effect of Labor Migration on the Diffusion of Democracy: Evidence from a Former Soviet Republic". Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network. SSRN 2327441.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ Regan, Patrick M.; Frank, Richard W. (2014-11-01). "Migrant remittances and the onset of civil war". Conflict Management and Peace Science. 31 (5): 502–520. doi:10.1177/0738894213520369. ISSN 0738-8942.
- ^ Tuccio, Michele; Wahba, Jackline (2015-09-04). "Can I Have Permission to Leave the House? Return Migration and the Transfer of Gender Norms". Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network. SSRN 2655237.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ Dustmann, Christian; Frattini, Tommaso; Rosso, Anna (2015-04-01). "The Effect of Emigration from Poland on Polish Wages" (PDF). The Scandinavian Journal of Economics. 117 (2): 522–564. doi:10.1111/sjoe.12102. ISSN 1467-9442.
- ^ Elsner, Benjamin (2013-09-01). "Emigration and wages: The EU enlargement experiment". Journal of International Economics. 91 (1): 154–163. doi:10.1016/j.jinteco.2013.06.002. hdl:10419/48716.
- ^ Elsner, Benjamin (2012-11-10). "Does emigration benefit the stayers? Evidence from EU enlargement". Journal of Population Economics. 26 (2): 531–553. doi:10.1007/s00148-012-0452-6. hdl:10419/67322. ISSN 0933-1433.
- ^ "The effects of return migration on Egyptian household revenues".
- ^ di Giovanni, Julian; Levchenko, Andrei A.; Ortega, Francesc (2015-02-01). "A Global View of Cross-Border Migration". Journal of the European Economic Association. 13 (1): 168–202. doi:10.1111/jeea.12110. hdl:10230/22196. ISSN 1542-4774.