This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Are Migrants More Skilled than Non-Migrants?: Repeat, Return and Same-Employer Migrants

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Jennifer Hunt

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

I examine the determinants of inter-state migration of adults within western Germany, using the German Socio-Economic Panel from 1984 – 2000. I highlight the prevalence and distinctive characteristics of migrants who do not change employers. Same-employer migrants represent 25 % of all migrants, and have higher education and pre-move wages than non-migrants. Conditional on age, same-employer migrants are therefore more skilled than non-migrants. By contrast, although other migrants have higher education than non-migrants, they do not have higher pre-move wages. Furthermore, they have in their ranks disproportionate numbers of the non-employed, unemployed and recently laid off. It therefore seems inappropriate to characterize them as more skilled than non-migrants. The results for same-employer migrants indicate that skilled workers have a low-cost migration avenue that has not been considered in the previous literature. I also analyze the relation between repeat and return migration and distinguish between short and long-distance migration. I confirm that long-distance migrants are more skilled than short-distance migrants, as predicted by theory, and I show that return migrants are a mix of successes and failures.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.41672.de/dp422.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research in its series Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin with number 422.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length: 20 p.
Date of creation: 2004
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp422

Contact details of provider:
Postal: Mohrenstra�e 58, D-10117 Berlin
Phone: xx49-30-89789-0
Fax: xx49-30-89789-200
Email:
Web page: http://www.diw.de/en
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Bibliothek).

Related research
Keywords:

Other versions of this item:

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports: References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Kremer, Michael, 1993. "The O-Ring Theory of Economic Development," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 108(3), pages 551-75, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Eran Yashiv, 2004. "The Self Selection of Migrant Workers Revisited," CEP Discussion Papers dp0655, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Constant, Amelie & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2003. "The Dynamics of Repeat Migration: A Markov Chain Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 885, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Hughes, Gordon & McCormick, Barry, 1981. "Do Council Housing Policies Reduce Migration between Regions?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 91(364), pages 919-37, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. George J. Borjas & Bernt Bratsberg, 1994. "Who Leaves? The Outmigration of the Foreign-Born," NBER Working Papers 4913, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. John E. Roemer, 1997. "The (Non-Parochial) Welfare Economics of Immigration," Discussion Papers 97-02, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    Other versions:
  7. Stark, Oded & Wang, Yong, 2002. "Inducing human capital formation: migration as a substitute for subsidies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 29-46, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Abdurrahman Aydemir, 2003. "Are Immigrants Positively or Negatively Selected? The Role of Immigrant Selection Criteria and Self-Selection," Labor and Demography 0306002, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  9. Richard B. Freeman, 1982. "Crime and the Labor Market," NBER Working Papers 1031, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. repec:att:wimass:192037 is not listed on IDEAS
  11. Daniel Chiquiar & Gordon H. Hanson, 2002. "International Migration, Self-Selection, and the Distribution of Wages: Evidence from Mexico and the United States," NBER Working Papers 9242, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  12. Jennifer Hunt, 2000. "Why Do People Still Live in East Germany?," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 201, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. George J. Borjas & Stephen J. Trejo, 1991. "Immigrant Participation in the Welfare System," NBER Working Papers 3423, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  14. Amelie Constant & Douglas S. Massey, 2003. "Self-selection, earnings, and out-migration: A longitudinal study of immigrants to Germany," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 631-653, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  15. John Kennan & James R. Walker, 2003. "The Effect of Expected Income on Individual Migration Decisions," NBER Working Papers 9585, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. McCormick, Barry, 1997. "Regional unemployment and labour mobility in the UK," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(3-5), pages 581-589, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. George J. Borjas & Stephen G. Bronars & Stephen J. Trejo, 1992. "Self-Selection and Internal Migration in the United States," NBER Working Papers 4002, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  18. Borjas, George J., 1999. "The economic analysis of immigration," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 28, pages 1697-1760 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Michael C. Burda & Jennifer Hunt, 2001. "From Reunification to Economic Integration: Productivity and the Labor Market in Eastern Germany," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 32(2001-2), pages 1-92. [Downloadable!]
  20. George J. Borjas, 1988. "Immigration And Self-Selection," NBER Working Papers 2566, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  21. Borjas, George J, 1987. "Self-Selection and the Earnings of Immigrants," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(4), pages 531-53, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  22. Pissarides, Christopher A & Wadsworth, Jonathan, 1989. "Unemployment and the Inter-regional Mobility of Labour," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(397), pages 739-55, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  23. Chiswick, Barry R., 2000. "Are Immigrants Favorably Self-Selected? An Economic Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 131, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  24. Schwartz, Aba, 1973. "Interpreting the Effect of Distance on Migration," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(5), pages 1153-69, Sept.-Oct. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Christina Elschner & Robert Schwager, 2006. "A Simulation Method to Measure the Tax Burden on Highly Skilled Manpower," cege – Center for European, Governance and Economic Development Research Discussion Papers 50, cege – Center for European, Governance and Economic Development Research, University of Goettingen (Germany).. [Downloadable!]
  2. David J. Maddison & Katrin Rehdanz, 2007. "Happiness Over Space And Time," Working Papers FNU-128, Research unit Sustainability and Global Change, Hamburg University, revised Feb 2007. [Downloadable!]
  3. David Maddison & Katrin Rehdanz, 2007. "Are Regional Differences in Utility Eliminated over Time?: Evidence from Germany," SOEPpapers 16, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). [Downloadable!]
  4. Hendrik Jürges, 2005. "Gender Ideology, Division of Housework, and the Geographic Mobility Families," MEA discussion paper series 05090, Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging (MEA), University of Mannheim. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Abigail Wozniak, 2006. "Educational Differences in the Migration Responses of Young Workers to Local Labor Market Conditions," IZA Discussion Papers 1954, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  6. Lutz Schneider & Alexander Kubis, 2009. "Are there Gender-specific Preferences for Location Factors? A Grouped Conditional Logit-Model of Interregional Migration Flows in Germany," IWH Discussion Papers 5-09, Halle Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  7. Arntz, Melanie, 2006. "What attracts human capital? : Understanding the skill composition of interregional job matches in Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 06-62, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? You can use IDEAS to provide links to papers and articles in your course syllabus.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-28.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.