Migration Flows of A8 and Other EU Migrants to and from the UK

This briefing discusses migration of European Union (EU) citizens (excluding British citizens) to and from the UK. A special focus of the briefing is on A8 citizens -- citizens of the eight countries that joined the EU in May 2004 (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) and A2 citizens -- citizens of the two countries that joined the European Union (EU) in January 2007 (Bulgaria and Romania)

EU Migrants in Other EU Countries: An Analysis of Bilateral Migrant Stocks

This briefing provides an overview of the numbers of EU migrants in different EU countries It also analyses data for the "net migrant stock" between different countries, i e. the number of people from country Y living in country X minus the number of people from country X living in country Y. For instance, it compares the number of Spanish migrants in the UK with the number of UK migrants living in Spain. All data and analysis in this briefing refer to the year 2010

The Fiscal Impact of Immigration in the UK

This briefing provides an overview of the existing estimates on the impact of immigration on government finances for the UK and other countries and explores the conceptual and methodological issues related to estimating the fiscal impact of immigration

The Tale of Three Amigos: Remittances, Exchange Rates and Money Demand in Mexico

This article analyzes the relationship between remittances, exchange rates and money demand in Mexico. We find that shocks to remittances have a positive impact on domestic money demand. The results also suggest the existence of a bi-directional relationship between remittances and the exchange rate. Furthermore, positive shocks to remittances are found to have a negative impact on Mexico’s real exchange rate. This indicates that remittances appreciate the Mexican peso and therefore, may impact the competitiveness of the tradable sector negatively.

Crime and Remittance Transfers

This article examines the determinants of remittance transfers, specifically focusing on the impact of crimes on remittances. Using the 2003 Quality of Life Survey of Colombia, we find that both domestic and international transfers are negatively affected by crime. That is, because crime may have an adverse effect on household assets and the return to investments in the home community, migrants may decrease transfers made for selfinterested purposes such as future inheritance or investment. Although results suggest that a portion of transfers are sent for self-interest motives, variables related to the household indicate that altruism is also an important motivation for remitting.

Are Remittances Manna From Heaven? A Look at the Business Cycle Properties of Remittances

This article documents the business cycle properties of workers’ remittance flows to Mexico. We also discuss key differences between the cyclical properties of remittance inflows and the cyclical properties of foreign direct investment (FDI). We find evidence that remittances are countercyclical with respect to Mexico’s business cycle. However, this result is not robust to the use of different measures of remittances. The lack of a robust relationship between remittances and Mexico’s business cycle, suggests that the use of remittances to smooth cyclical fluctuations in output may not be a straightforward strategy.

Monetary policy and the U.S. housing market: A VAR analysis imposing sign restrictions

This article examines the impact of monetary policy shocks on the U.S. housing market using an identification procedure similar to the one suggested by Uhlig (Journal of Monetary Economics, 2005). The identification procedure imposes sign restrictions on the response of some variables for a certain period. No restrictions are placed on the response of the housing variable. Overall, the results indicate that housing starts and residential investment respond negatively to contractionary monetary policy shocks. However, the magnitude of the impact is sensitive to the selection of the horizon for which the restrictions hold. Moreover, a comparison of the results with those obtained from a conventional Choleski decomposition, suggests that the impact of monetary policy on the housing market is much less certain under the sign restrictions approach.

Introduction to the World of Exchange Rates

In this paper we discuss the functioning of the foreign exchange rate system. We start by giving a historical account of the different exchange rate systems around the world. Next, we discuss the determinants of a currency’s value according to the main theories of exchange rate determination. Subsequently, we discuss the difference between the nominal and real exchange rate. Finally, the paper ends with summary and conclusions and with a list of additional readings on the topic.