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Temporary work visas as US-Haiti development cooperation: a preliminary impact evaluation

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  • Michael A. Clemens

    (Center for Global Development
    IZA)

  • Hannah Postel

    (Center for Global Development)

Abstract

We report a small-sample, preliminary evaluation of the economic impact of temporary overseas work by Haitian agricultural workers. This work occurs in the USA in the context of a pilot program designed as a form of post-disaster development assistance to Haiti. We find that the effects of matching new seasonal agricultural jobs in the USA with Haitian workers differs markedly from the effects of more traditional forms of assistance to Haiti, in three ways: the economic benefits are shared roughly equally between Haiti and the USA; these benefits are very large, including raising the value of Haitian workers’ labor by a multiple of 15; and the portion of the benefits accruing to Haiti is uncommonly well targeted for the direct benefit of poor Haitian households. We discuss implementation challenges faced by the program and the potential for policies of this kind to complement more traditional forms of development and humanitarian assistance. JEL Classification: F22, O15, O22, R23

Suggested Citation

  • Michael A. Clemens & Hannah Postel, 2017. "Temporary work visas as US-Haiti development cooperation: a preliminary impact evaluation," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-18, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:izaldv:v:6:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1186_s40175-016-0070-x
    DOI: 10.1186/s40175-016-0070-x
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    Cited by:

    1. Maud HAZAN & Claire ZANUSO & Rafael NOVELLA, 2018. "Aspirations, attentes et réalités de la jeunesse dans un Etat fragile : le cas haïtien," Working Paper 98e53f2a-19d2-4649-a3e5-6, Agence française de développement.
    2. Marco Caselli, 2019. "“Let Us Help Them at Home”: Policies and Misunderstandings on Migrant Flows Across the Mediterranean Border," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 983-993, November.
    3. Barker, Nathan & Davis, C. Austin & López-Peña, Paula & Mitchell, Harrison & Mobarak, Ahmed Mushfiq & Naguib, Karim & Reimão, Maira Emy & Shenoy, Ashish & Vernot, Corey, 2023. "Migration and resilience during a global crisis," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    4. Michael A. Clemens, 2018. "Testing for Repugnance in Economic Transactions: Evidence from Guest Work in the Gulf," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(S1), pages 5-44.
    5. Nathan Barker & Austin Davis & Paula López-Peña & Harrison Mitchell & Mushfiq Mobarak & Karim Naguib & Maira Emy Reimão & Ashish Shenoy & Corey Vernot, 2020. "Migration and the labour market impacts of COVID-19," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-139, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor Mobility; Homeland Security; Agricultural Cooperative; Income Gain; Marginal Revenue Product;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O22 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Project Analysis
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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