Is the Minimum Wage a Pull Factor for Immigrants?

This paper studies the impact of the minimum wage on immigration. A framework is presented in which inflows of immigrants are a function of the expected wage growth induced by the minimum wage. The analysis focuses on the US minimum wage increase of 1996 and 1997, using data from the Current Population Survey and the census. The estimation strategy consists of using the fraction of affected workers as the instrumental variable for the growth of expected wages. The findings show that States in which the growth of expected wages was relatively large (around 20%) exhibit inflow rate increases that are four to five times larger than States in which average wages grew 10% less. Placebo tests confirm that the policy did not affect the immigration of high wage earners.employment effects, expected wages, immigration, minimum wage, wage effects

Immigration and displacement across local labour markets

This paper investigates the impact of contemporary flows of immigrants on internal movements of natives and earlier immigrants across the local authorities of England and Wales. To analyse the impact of immigration, a theoretical framework where natives and immigrants are imperfect substitutes is adopted. The econometric analysis, based on the instrumental variable approach proposed by Card (2001), shows that immigration does not displace native working-age population; instead, flows of natives are complementary with those of new immigrants. There is evidence of displacement for earlier immigrants, with a substantial impact for those with no or low qualifications. Robustness tests are provided to corroborate the results Keywords; census, displacement, england and wales, migration, local authority

White and Non-White Migration between Area Groups in England and Wales

In this paper, we explore internal migration in England and Wales by broad groups of ethnicity, education and employment status from 1991 to 2004. The aim is to identify key differences in the patterns and trends over time so that a better understanding of the processes can take place. Our analyses focus on migration between twelve area groups defined by the Office for National Statistics, which are comprised of Local Authority Districts and include such areas as London Cosmopolitan, London Suburbs, Coastal and Countryside and Industrial Hinterlands. By analysing the migration flows between these area groupings, we can focus our attention on the types of destinations various migrant groups choose given particular origin types. The data come from the 2001 Census and the National Health Service Central Register from 1991 to 2004. Strong stability over time is demonstrated in the aggregate patterns of origin-destination-specific flows. However, when disaggregated by region, ethnicity, education and employment, very different patterns emerge which gives some useful insights into the redistribution of England and Wales' ethnic populations and compositions

Self-Employment of Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China

This paper focuses on the determinants of self-employment among rural to urban migrants in China. Two self-selection mechanisms are analysed: the first relates to the manner in which migrants choose self-employment or paid work based on the potential gains from either type of employment; the second takes into account that the determinants of the migration decision can be correlated with employment choices. Using data from the 2008 Rural-Urban Migration in China and Indonesia (RUMiCI) survey, a selection model with endogenous switching is estimated. Earnings estimates are then used to derive the wage differential, which in turn is used to model the employment choice. The procedure is extended to account for migration selectivity and to compare individuals with different migration background and employment histories. The results indicate that self-employed individuals are positively selected with respect to their unobserved characteristics. Furthermore, the wage differential is found to be an important driver of the self-employment choice.self-employment, rural to urban migration, selection bias magnets, wages, European Union

Unemployment Benefits and Immigration: Evidence from the EU

The paper studies the impact of unemployment benefits on immigration. A sample of 19 European countries observed over the period 1993-2008 is used to test the hypothesis that unemployment benefit spending (UBS) is correlated with immigration flows from EU and non-EU origins. While OLS estimates reveal the existence of a moderate correlation for non-EU immigrants only, IV and GMM techniques used to address endogeneity issues yield, respectively, a much smaller and an essentially zero causal impact of UBS on immigration. All estimates for immigrants from EU origins indicate that flows within the EU are not related to unemployment benefit generosity. This suggests that the so-called "welfare migration" debate is misguided and not based on empirical evidence.unemployment benefit spending, immigration, welfare magnets, European Union

Essays on migration and labour markets

This thesis explores the relationships between immigration and labour mar- kets. The work consists of three empirical papers that examine particular aspects of this relationship. The first paper investigates the hypothesis that immigrants are attracted by a particular labour market institution, the minimum wage. The empirical analysis is implemented by assessing the impact that an exogenous increase in the federal USA minimum wage has on the immigration ows of low-skilled individuals. The main findings are that low-wage workers move to States where the growth of the minimum wage is larger, while high-wage individuals are insensitive to the policy. The second paper analyses the effects of immigration in the host labour market, in particular on the mobility of previous residents. The main objective is to investigate if inflows of recent immigrants determine an out-migration of natives and earlier immigrants. This is achieved by analysing patterns of internal mi- gration using information on the local authority of origin and destination and on the skill level of individuals. The analysis demonstrates that, while UK-born individuals and recent immigrants move to similar locations, earlier immigrants are instead displaced, suggesting closer substitutability with the newcomers. The impact of ethnic networks on employment outcomes is the final topic of the thesis. The important feature of this study is to examine this effect separately for immigrants and natives. This is achieved by analysing detailed data on ethnic enclaves from two Censuses of England and Wales, which are used to construct an index that captures local interactions. The results show that, for the majority of immigrant groups, a larger informal network is associated with higher employ- ment probabilities. For the group of natives, there is no evidence that living in an enclave is detrimental to employment, and the eect is, at worst, zero.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

The economic payoff of name Americanization

We provide the first evidence on the magnitude and consequences of the Americanization of migrants names in the early 20th century. We construct a longitudinal dataset of naturalization records, tracking migrants and their naming choices over time. We consistently find that migrants who Americanized their names experienced larger occupational upgrading than those who did not. Name Americanization embodies an intention to assimilate among low-skilled migrants and reveals the existence of preferences for American names within the labor market. We conclude that the trade-off between individual identity and labor market success was present then, as it is today

The chips are down: the influence of family on children’s trust formation

Understanding the formation of trust is a key issue because of the impact of trust on economic performance. Earlier attempts to measure the strength of intergenerational transmission of trust relied on the cross-sectional regression of children’s trust on the contemporaneous trust of parents. In this paper, we take an original approach to the analysis of the transmission process by introducing the distinction between permanent trust (the long-lasting belief on whether one trusts people) and transient trust (capturing, e.g., random errors in the reported trust), and argue that only permanent trust is relevant for the transmission process. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we show that 2/3 of the observed variability in children’s trust is due to the transient component. The remaining variability due to the permanent component is only moderately determined by the permanent trust of the parents, with mothers being much more relevant than fathers. Focusing on the subsample of families with more than one child, we show that most of the variability in children’s permanent trust is due to unobservable family-specific features of the environment shared by siblings. We conclude that while the family environment in which children grew up determines most of their permanent trust, the direct role of intergenerational transmission is small.Sara Tonini kindly acknowledges the financial support by the Fondazione Universitá di Trento under the Dematté grant

Sibling influence on the human capital of the left-behind

While a growing literature has analyzed the effects of parental migration on the educational outcomes of children left behind, this study is the first to highlight the importance of sibling interactions in such a context. Using panel data from the RUMiC Survey, we find that sibling influence on school performance is stronger among left- behind children. Hence, parental migration seems to trigger changes in familial roles and sibling effects among children. However, it is primarily older sisters who exhibit a positive influence on their younger siblings. We corroborate our results by performing a series of tests to mitigate endogeneity issues. The results from the analysis suggest that sibling effects in migrant households might be a mechanism shaping children’s outcomes and success and that adjustments within the family left behind have the potential to generate benefits – or reduce hardships – in response to parental migration

Immigration and displacement across local labour markets

This paper investigates the impact of contemporary flows of immigrants on internal movements of natives and earlier immigrants across the local authorities of England and Wales. To analyse the impact of immigration, a theoretical framework where natives and immigrants are imperfect substitutes is adopted. The econometric analysis, based on the instrumental variable approach proposed by Card (2001), shows that immigration does not displace native working-age population; instead, flows of natives are complementary with those of new immigrants. There is evidence of displacement for earlier immigrants, with a substantial impact for those with no or low qualifications. Robustness tests are provided to corroborate the results<br/