Migration-induced Transfers of Norms. The case of Female Political Empowerment

It is recognized that affirmative action, as anti-discriminatory policies whose aim is to benefit an underrepresented group, is a key driver of progress for women. However, the role of migrants in helping female voice from abroad has not been addressed yet. This paper empirically investigates the effect of international migration on the parliamentary participation of women left behind following the brand new strand of literature on ‘transfers of norms’. Panel data from 1960 to 2000 allows us to take into account selection due to women’s eligibility, observed and unobserved heterogeneity. After having controlled for traditional political and non political factors, we show that total international migration to countries with higher female political empowerment significantly increases the female parliamentary shares in sending countriesWomen’s empowerment, Transfers of norms, International Migration, Panel Data, Sample Selection

The effect of emigration on home-country political institutions

The number of immigrants from developing countries living in richer, more developed countries has increased substantially during the last decades. At the same time, the quality of institutions in developing countries has also improved. The data thus suggest a close positive correlation between average emigration rates and institutional quality. Recent empirical literature investigates whether international migration can be an important factor for institutional development. Overall, the findings indicate that emigration to institutionally developed countries induces a positive effect on home-country institutions

Emigration and Democracy

Migration is an important and yet neglected determinant of institutions. The paper documents the channels through which emigration affects home country institutions and considers dynamic-panel regressions for a large sample of developing countries. We find that emigration and human capital both increase democracy and economic freedom. This implies that unskilled (skilled) emigration has a positive (ambiguous) impact on institutional quality. Simulations show an impact of skilled emigration that is generally positive, significant for a few countries in the short run and for many countries in the long run once incentive effects of emigration on human capital formation are accounted for.Migration, Institutions, Democracy, Diaspora Effects, Brain Drain

Remittances and Financial Openness

Remittances have greatly increased during recent years, becoming an important and reliable source of funds for many developing countries. Therefore, there is a strong incentive for receiving countries to attract more remittances, especially through formal channels that turn to be either less expensive or less risky. One way of doing so is to increase their financial openness, but this policy option might generate additional costs in terms of macroeconomic volatility. In this paper we investigate the link between remittance receipts and financial openness. We develop a small model and statistically test for the existence of such a relationship with a sample of 66 mostly developing countries from 1980-2005. Empirically we use a dynamic generalized ordered logit model to deal with the categorical nature of the financial openness policy. We apply a two-step method akin to two stage least squares to deal with the endogeneity of remittances and potential measurement errors. We find a strong positive statistical and economic effect of remittances on financial openness.remittances, financial openness, government policy

Remittances and Financial Openness

Remittances have greatly increased during recent years, becoming an important and reliable source of funds for many developing countries. Therefore, there is a strong incentive for receiving countries to attract more remittances, especially through formal channels that turn to be either less expensive or less risky. One way of doing so is to increase their financial openness, but this policy option might generate additional costs in terms of macroeconomic volatility. In this paper we investigate the link between remittance receipts and financial openness. We develop a small model and statistically test for the existence of such a relationship with a sample of 66 mostly developing countries from 1980-2005. Empirically we use a dynamic generalized ordered logit model to deal with the categorical nature of the financial openness policy. We apply a two-step method akin to two stage least squares to deal with the endogeneity of remittances and potential measurement errors. We find a strong positive statistical and economic effect of remittances on financial openness.remittances, nancial openness, government policy

Attracting skilled immigrants: an overview of recent policy developments in advanced countries

In this paper we review the policies put in place by the main Western destination countries to attract highly skilled migrants. Two main systems can be identified. On the one hand, employer-driven schemes typically call for the migrant to meet a set of minimum skill requirements and to have a job offer before a work visa can be issued. On the other, employee driven schemes typically do not require a job offer, and instead select the migrant based on a set of characteristics chosen by the policy maker. Employer driven schemes are the dominant policy tool in the sample of countries we consider in the analysis, and only Australia, Canada and New Zealand have made employee-driven schemes the mainstay of their skill selective immigration policy. The preliminary evidence we review suggests that the latter are more effective in increasing the skill level of the immigrant population, and casts doubts on the usefulness of new initiatives like the EU blue card that are still based on an employer driven system

Emigration and the quality of home country institutions

Emigration affects institutions at home in a number of ways. While people may have fewer incentives to voice when they have exit options, emigrants can voice once abroad and contribute to the diffusion of democratic values and norms. We first document these channels and then consider dynamic-panel regressions to investigate the overall impact of emigration on institutions in the home country. We find that both openess to migration and human capital have a positive impact on institutions (as measured by standard democracy and economic freedom indices). This implies that unskilled migration has a positive effect on institutional quality while the effect of skilled migration (or brain drain) is ambiguous. Using the point estimates from our regressions, we simulate the marginal effect of skilled emigration on institutional quality. In general, the simulations confirm that the brain drain has an ambiguous impact on institutions, though a significant institutional gain obtains for a limited set of countries when incentive effects of the brain drain on human capital formation are taken into account.Migration, brain drain, institutions, diaspora effects, democracy

Hacia un enfoque inclusivo e inteligente a la migración: la cuestión del reconocimiento de competencia

The European approach to migration is traditionally characterized by a sort of “schizophrenia”, generated by the attempt to keep together two contradictory philosophies: the “economicistic” philosophy, and that of solidarity and equal opportunities. To overcome this paradox –which has been producing a condition of migrants’ structural disadvantage, while inhibiting the full exploitation of their skills, knowledge and competences (SKC)– a crucial shift must be promoted: from the perception of migrants as a workforce expected to fill contingent vacancies, to the conception of their human capital as a structural resource for economic and social development, in line with a smart and inclusive way to approach immigration. In this perspective, the issue of recognizing migrants’ SKC has both a practical and a symbolic value, as it can contribute to change such a perception.Starting from the findings of the DIVERSE project (supported by the European Commission through the European Integration Fund and carried out in 10 EU countries), the article discusses some characteristics of the current functioning of the national systems of recognition, focusing on migrants as their peculiar target. The discussion is grounded on the cross-country analysis carried out on the documentations and reports produced by each country team on the basis of a multi-situated research conducted (also) on selected regional systems of recognition.The analysis shows many differences among the systems of recognition especially related to: their level of “seniority”, degree of universalism and accessibility, friendliness of procedures’ in relation to migrants. Beyond these results, the analysis reveals that the difficulties faced by a migrant in taking up the SKC recognition opportunities mirrors the inadequacies and shortfalls of those systems, that is, their failure in realising the inclusiveness promise for all citizens. Therefore, the article draws attention on the paradigmatic value of migrants’ experience: developing the systems of SKC recognition giving specific attention to migrants’ needs can not only concur to recast the European approach towards migration and its role in the labour market, but also have profitable outcome on social cohesion, equality, and economic competitiveness. El enfoque europeo sobre las migraciones se caracteriza por una especie de esquizofrenia, generada como consecuencia de intentar juntar dos filosofías contradictorias: la filosofía “economicista” y la de igualdad de oportunidades. Para superar esta paradoja –que está produciendo una condición de desventaja estructural de los migrantes, inhibiendo el pleno aprovechamiento de las aptitudes, conocimientos y competencias de los migrantes– es importante promover un cambio de perspectiva, pasando de la concepción de los migrantes como mano de obra destinada a cubrir los puestos de trabajo vacantes a la conciencia de que su capital humano es un recurso estructural para el desarrollo económico y social, de acuerdo con una forma inteligente e inclusiva para abordar la migración. Desde esta perspectiva, el tema del reconocimiento de las competencias de los migrantes tiene un valor tanto práctico como simbólico, que puede contribuir a este cambio de perspectiva. Inspirándose en los principales resultados del proyecto DIVERSE (co-financiado por la Comisión Europea a través del Fondo Europeo para la integración y realizado en 10 países europeos), el artículo discute el efectivo funcionamiento de los sistemas nacionales de reconocimiento, focalizando la atención sobre los migrantes como su objeto específico. La discusión se fundamenta en el análisis comparativo realizado utilizando la documentación y los informes de investigación producidos por el equipo de cada uno de los países sobre la base de una investigación empírica de los sistemas de reconocimiento (también) en algunos seleccionados sistemas regionales. El análisis indica la presencia de múltiples diferencias entre los sistemas de reconocimiento, sobre todo en relación con el grado de antigüedad, de universalidad, de sencillez y de accesibilidad de los procedimientos hacia los migrantes. Además de estos resultados, el análisis revela que las dificultades encontradas por los migrantes en identificar y utilizar las oportunidades de reconocimiento de competencias son un reflejo de las insuficiencias y debilidades de estos sistemas, es decir representan un fracaso de las promesas de inclusividad para todos los ciudadanos, especialmente los más vulnerables. Las conclusiones del artículo llaman la atención por el valor paradigmático de la experiencia de los migrantes: desarrollar sistemas de reconocimiento queden atención especifica a las necesidades de los migrantes puede, no solo ayudar a reformular el modelo europeo de integración, sino también a producir efectos positivos sobre la cohesión, la igualdad y la competitividad económica. </jats:p

Emigration and Democracy

Migration is an important and yet neglected determinant of institutions. The paper documents the channels through which emigration affects home country institutions and considers dynamic-panel regressions for a large sample of developing countries. We find that emigration and human capital both increase democracy and economic freedom. This implies that unskilled (skilled) emigration has a positive (ambiguous) impact on institutional quality. Simulations show an impact of skilled emigration that is generally positive, significant for a few countries in the short run and for many countries in the long run once incentive effects of emigration on human capital formation are accounted for.migration, institutions, democracy, diaspora effects, brain drain

Emigration and democracy

Migration is an important yet neglected determinant of institutions. This paper documents the channels through which emigration affects home country institutions and considers dynamic-panel regressions for a large sample of developing countries. The authors find that emigration and human capital both increase democracy and economic freedom. This implies that unskilled (skilled) emigration has a positive (ambiguous) impact on institutional quality. Simulations show an impact of skilled emigration that is generally positive, significant for a few countries and for many countries once incentive effects of emigration on human capital formation are accounted for.Population Policies,Economic Theory&Research,International Migration,Human Migrations&Resettlements,Voluntary and Involuntary Resettlement