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Returning to the Question of a Wage Premium for Returning Migrants

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  • Barrett, Alan
  • Goggin, Jean

Abstract

Using data from a large-scale survey of employees in Ireland, we estimate the extent to which people who have emigrated from Ireland and returned earn more relative to comparable people who have never lived abroad. In so doing, we are testing the hypothesis that migration can be part of a process of human capital formation. We find through OLS estimation that returners earn 7 percent more than comparable stayers. We test for the presence of self-selection bias in this estimate but the tests suggest that the premium is related to returner status. The premium holds for both genders, is higher for people with post-graduate degrees and for people who migrated beyond the EU to the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The results show how emigration can be positive for a source country when viewed in a longer term context.

Suggested Citation

  • Barrett, Alan & Goggin, Jean, 2010. "Returning to the Question of a Wage Premium for Returning Migrants," Papers WP337, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    • Handle: RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp337
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    Keywords

    Ireland/US;

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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