Theories and Determinants of International Migration Flashcards
(26 cards)
according the standard economic model: on what depends the immigration rate?
international differences in the (net) returns to factor supply/labor
-> people only move when the expected income gain exceeds the costs
what do the people consider before moving?
4
1) controlling for migration costs
2) skill levels
3) income ineuality in home country
4) immigration policies in destination country
what do migration costs involve?
3
travel expenses, moving costs, emotional costs of separation from family/homeland
other factors of other models
family, waiting options and relative deprivation
(relative Benachteiligung)
other determinants of migration, regarding sociologists?
2
refugees
people forced to migrate
what could be primary motives for migration?
6
1) higher price for labor
2) consumption decisions (better climate, culture, public goods)
3) household production decisions (environment for raising food, homeschooling)
4) desires for family reunification
5) for political freedom
6) safeguarding wealth
6 = Sicherung des Wohlstandes
Early contributions according Adam Smith (1776)
wages vary more than commodity prices
-> migration as a potential response to spatial disequilibrium in labor markets
-> but noted that humans are “the most difficult to be transported”
Early Contributions according Ravenstein (1889)
7 laws of migration including the tendency for short-distance moves to large cities, rural-to-urban migration and differences in migration likelihood by gender
Early Contribution acc. Zipf (1946)
“gravity model of migration”
-> suggesting that the migration volume between 2 places is proportional to the product of their populations and inversely proportional to the distance between them
+ distanfce acting as a proxy for migration cost
Modern Theory of Internal Migration, categorized into 3
1) the migrant as investor in HC
2) the migrant as consumer
3) the migrant as household producer
content of the Sjaastad model (1962) seeing migration as an investment in HC
model considers - earning differences, cost of living differences and the migrant’s rate of time preference
- also assumes that individuals aim to maximize the net present value of future earning by choosing the location that offers the highest net income after deducting migration costs
shortcoming of the model of Sjaastad 1946?
4 stk
the single-period nature and the main focus on the individual rather than the family, assumption of perfect information and neglect of remittances
Vernachlässigung von RÜcküberweisungen = neglect of remittances
The migrant as Consumer
non tradable goods
-** ameneties** (like climate, clean air) and public goods play a crucial role
- Tiebout Hypothesis: people vote with their feet by choosing communities that best satisfy their prefernces for public goods
The Migrant as Household Producer
households choose a location to optimize the prodution and consumption of household goods and services ,influenced by local prices and amenities
further influences on Internal Migration
3stk
1) the role of past migration -> networks can reduce psychological, social and information costs making migration more efficient
2) migration as a life cycle decision -> migration occurs at different stages of the life cycle (job opport. young people, healthcare for retirees) leading to multiple migrations
3) the expected Income hypothesis -> migrants consider the expected wage factoring the probability of empoloyment (especially relevant for rural-to-urban migration)
Borjas’ first model
- emphasizes that migration depends on how a migrant’s skills fit into the destination country’s labor market
- assumes different earning distributions in source and destination countries due to market and policy differences (not necessarily skill distribution differences)
- incorporates skill transferability
diese flashcard kann man ggf löschen
what does Borjas’ First Model (1987) predict?
migration if the expected wage gain exceeds migration costs.
emigration rate is a function of mean earnings, earning varinces, migration costs, skill transferability and the interaction of earnings variances
Borjas’ 1991 model
- earnings depend on socioeconomic skill endowment X and a country’s average valuation of X -> migration is more likely if destination country values the migrant’s characteristics more than source country
- migrations rate for individuals with given X depend on international differences in the values of X, earning variance, migration costs and the tranferability of X
- model predicts higher migration rates with higher mean level of schooling in the source country
- predicts migher migration rates with lower variance of schooling in the source country
what are the 4 types of migration costs according CHW Model 2007?
individual-specific,
direct costs,
costs due to quantitative restrictions and costs due to skill-selective policies
moel by Stark 1984, 1991?
driven by what?
Migration as a Response to Relative Dprivation
driven by the desire to improve one’s income relative to a refernce group in the source country
the Family or Household as the Decision-Making Unit
according Mincer’s 1978 model
family migration occurs if the net gains for the entire family are positive even if some members emperience private losses
Family migration as a Portfolio Decision
Chapter 3, empirical evidence on the determinants of migration
Empirical Evidence on the Determinants of Migration
- worldwide migration is driven by a combination of economic, social and political determinants (Hatton and Williamson 2005)
- positive elasticity of emigration with respect to destination gdp + less significant role for source countrs earnings + negative impact of distance + support for Borjas’ prediction of a U-shaped realtionship between migration and realtive income inequality + post migration as significant factor (Mayda 2007)
- IN UK stronger effects of income differences and unempoyments rates than income inequality + IN AUSTRALIA skilled migration is influenced by other countries’ immigration policies (Hatton 2005) + IN GERMANY studies show the importance of past immigration, economic growth and per capita income differences
issues of empirical research
5
- empiricial literatur of immigration is hampered by its small size
- literature relies heavily on augmented gravity models
- data limitations limit the robustness of the findings
- exluding unauthorized and return migration
- donÄt consider policy effects
the Gravity Model of International Migration
- model posits migrations as a positive function of the “mass” (GDP or population) of origin and destination economies and a negative function of distance
- ## incorporates other factors like stock of previous migrants, common language, border or colonial heritage
