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Dissecting Network Externalities in International Migration

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  • Michel Beine

    () (CREA, University of Luxembourg, IRES, CREAM and CES-Ifo)

  • Frédéric Docquier

    (and IRES, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Belgium)

  • Caglar Özden

    (World Bank, Development Research Group, United States)

Abstract

Existing migrant networks play an important role in explaining the size and structure of immigration flows. They affect the net benefits of migration by reduc- ing assimilation costs (’self-selection channel’) and by lowering legal entry barriers through family reunification programs (’immigration policy channel’). This paper presents an identification strategy allowing to disentangle the relative importance of these two channels. Then, it provides an empirical analysis based on US immi- gration data by metropolitan area and country of origin. First, we show that the overall network externality is strong: the elasticity of migration flows to network size is around one. Second, only a quarter of this elasticity is accounted for by the policy channel. Third, the policy channel was stronger in the 1990s than in the 1980s as the family reunification programs became more effective with growing diasporas. Fourth, the overall diaspora effect and the policy channel are more important for low-skilled migrants.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Center for Research in Economic Analysis, University of Luxembourg in its series CREA Discussion Paper Series with number 11-09.

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Date of creation: 2011
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Handle: RePEc:luc:wpaper:11-09

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Keywords: Migration; network/diaspora externalities; Immigration policy.;

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  1. Bauer, Thomas & Epstein, Gil S & Gang, Ira, 2002. "Herd Effects or Migration Networks? The Location Choice of Mexican Immigrants in the US," CEPR Discussion Papers 3505, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  2. Guillermina Jasso & Mark Rosenzweig, 1986. "Family reunification and the immigration multiplier: U.S. immigration law, origin-country conditions, and the reproduction of immigrants," Demography, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 291-311, August.
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  6. Michel BEINE & Frederic DOCQUIER & Caglar OZDEN, 2009. "Diasporas," Discussion Papers (IRES - Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales) 2009002, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
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  13. Carrington, William J & Detragiache, Enrica & Vishwanath, Tara, 1996. "Migration with Endogenous Moving Costs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(4), pages 909-30, September.
  14. Gang, Ira N & Rivera-Batiz, Francisco L, 1994. "Labor Market Effects of Immigration in the United States and Europe: Substitution vs. Complementarity," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 157-75.
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  16. Kaivan Munshi, 2003. "Networks In The Modern Economy: Mexican Migrants In The U.S. Labor Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 118(2), pages 549-599, May.
  17. Jeffrey Grogger & Gordon H. Hanson, 2008. "Income Maximization and the Selection and Sorting of International Migrants," NBER Working Papers 13821, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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