An Extended Solow Growth Model with Emigration: Transitional Dynamics and Skills Complementarity

In this paper we develop an extended Solow growth model with skilled labor emigration which aggregates different labor types from strict complementarity to perfect substitution. Except in two particular cases, balanced growth paths can only be attained asymptotically. We therefore derive an analytical characterization of the transitional dynamics of the model. We are thus able to study the impact of labor elasticity of substitution on the time pattern of per capita income in the country that experiences brain drain. Simulations show that the shape of per capita trajectory depends crucially on the degree of complementarity (substitutability) between labor skills. Given that no income trajectory dominates the others, there is room for policy issues by influencing the elasticity of substitution (Klump and Preissler, 2000).Brain drain

Brain drain and factor complementarity

In this paper we develop a neoclassical growth model that aggregates different types of labor skills from strict complementarity to perfect substitution. After having derived general balanced growth conditions and developed explicit growth paths for capital and aggregate labor force, the model serves to qualitatively study the effect of brain drain on income and wages of the source country.Brain drain, growth, complementary, migration

Bank secrecy, illicit money and offshore financial centers

This paper discusses the effects of pressure policies on offshore financial centers as well as their ability to enforce the compliance of those centers with anti-money laundering regulations. Offshore banks can be encouraged to comply with rigorous monitoring of an investor's identity and the origin of his/her funds when pressure creates a sufficiently high risk of reputational harm to the investor. We show that such pressure policies harm both offshore and onshore investors and can benefit both the bank industry and tax administrations. We show that social optimal pressure policies are dichotomous decisions between no pressure at all and a pressure great enough to persuade offshore banks to comply. The delegation of pressure policies to onshore tax institutions may be inefficient. Deeper financial integration fosters compliance by the offshore center.money laundering, offshore banking, compliance

On tax competition, public goods provision and jurisdictions’ size

tax competition, public goods competition, spatial competition, foreign direct investments, country size

Measuring Agglomeration Forces in a Financial Center

Basing on Scitovsky's (1954) definition of external economies and applying the method of Caballero and Lyons (1990) to macro data of Luxembourg services industry, we find significant agglomeration forces between financial intermediaries (downstream industry) on the one hand and business services and computer industry (upstream industries) on the other.

WAGE DYNAMICS IN A STRUCTURAL TIME SERIES MODEL FOR LUXEMBOURG

This paper examines the relationships between monetary wage and its theoretical explanatory variables using a Structural Time Series (STS) model in order to take into account the unobserved components (trend, cycle, seasonal and irregular) of wage. Theoretically, the monetary wage is negatively related to labor productivity and unemployment rate but positively to the consumer price index and foreign prices. Our empirical results for a small open economy as Luxembourg indicate that the wage is positively related to the consumer price index and foreign prices as predicted by the theory, but the labor productivity and unemployment rate are not significant in the explanation of wages dynamics in the Luxembourg economy.Wage Bargaining, Labor Unions, Unobserved Components Models, Structural Time Series

Brain drain, remittances, and fertility model

How do high and low skilled migration affect fertility and human capital in migrants’ origin countries? This question is analyzed within an overlapping generations model where parents choose the number of high and low skilled children they would like to have. Individuals migrate with a certain probability and remit to their parents. It is shown that a brain drain induces parents to have more high and less low educated children. Under certain conditions fertility may either rise or decline due to a brain drain. Low skilled emigration leads to reversed results, while the overall impact on human capital of either type of migration remains ambiguous. Subsequently, the model is calibrated on a developing economy. It is found that increased high skilled emigration reduces fertility and fosters human capital accumulation, while low skilled emigration induces higher population growth and a lower level of education.Skilled emigration, remittances, fertility, human capital

The shortage of medical workers in sub-Saharan Africa and substitution policy

Substitution policies are strategies sometimes chosen in Sub-Saharan Africa for curtailing the shortage of health professionals especially caused by the outflow of medical personnel. The aim of our contribution is to propose a way to assess the merits and drawbacks of substitution policies by developing a simple growth model of healthcare productivity with medical brain drain. Within this framework, we use a medical care production function of the CES type which aggregates low and high specialized health workers. We then run simulations which compare scenarios with and without substitution strategies by using data from the Ghana’s medical sector.medical shortage, healthcare policy, substitution policy

Migration and human capital in an endogenous fertility model

How do high and low skilled migration affect fertility and human capital in migrants’ origin countries? This question is analyzed within an overlapping generations model where parents choose the number of high and low skilled children they would like to have. Individuals migrate with a certain probability and remit to their parents. It is shown that a brain drain induces parents to have more high and less low educated children. Under certain conditions fertility may either rise or decline due to a brain drain. Low skilled emigration leads to reversed results, while the overall impact on human capital of either type of migration remains ambiguous. Subsequently, the model is calibrated on a developing economy. It is found that increased high skilled emigration reduces fertility and fosters human capital accumulation, while low skilled emigration induces higher population growth and a lower level of education.migration, human capital, fertility