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International labor migration, asymmetric information and occupational choice

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  • Kar, Saibal

Abstract

We study the effect of asymmetric information in the labor market of a country on the occupational choice pattern of immigrants vis-à-vis natives. The choice is limited to self-employment and paid employment. The study is motivated by empirical observations that regular and irregular immigrants in many countries are often over-represented in entrepreneurship/small business despite substantial initial disadvantages. There are also evidences that the immigrants catch up with the native income level within one and half decades of their presence in the foreign land. We try to identify the reasons and provide a formal explanation of how the initial disadvantage turns out to be a prospect in disguise. In particular, we show that a larger number of skilled workers from a mixed cohort of immigrants tend to take up riskier self-employment compared to skilled natives. This explains a higher average income with high temporal income variability for the immigrant group, with consequent implications for income convergence.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by University Library of Munich, Germany in its series MPRA Paper with number 24106.

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Date of creation: Apr 2009
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Publication status: Published in Trade and Development Review 1.2(2009): pp. 34-48
Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:24106

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Related research

Keywords: Asymmetric Information; Labor migration; Self-employment; Risk premium; Income variability;

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References

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  1. Robert J. LaLonde & Robert H. Topel, 1990. "The Assimilation of Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Markets," NBER Working Papers 3573, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  2. Andrew M. Yuengert, 1991. "Self-employment and the earnings of male immigrants in the U.S," Research Paper 9105, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
  3. Dustmann, Christian & Fabbri, Francesca, 2000. "Language Proficiency and Labour Market Performance of Immigrants in the UK," IZA Discussion Papers 156, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  4. Lofstrom, Magnus, 1999. "Labor Market Assimilation and the Self-Employment Decision of Immigrant Entrepreneurs," IZA Discussion Papers 54, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  5. Kar, Saibal & Saha, Bibhas Chandra, 2011. "Asymmetric Information in the Labor Market, Immigrants and Contract Menu," IZA Discussion Papers 5508, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  6. Katz, Eliakim & Stark, Oded, 1987. "International Migration under Asymmetric Information," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 97(387), pages 718-26, September.
  7. Robin Boadway & Nicolas Marceau & Maurice Marchand & Marianne Vigneault, 1998. "Entrepreneurship, Asymmetric Information and Unemployment," Cahiers de recherche CREFE / CREFE Working Papers 57, CREFE, Université du Québec à Montréal.
  8. Kidd, M.P., 1990. "Immigrant Wage Differentials And The Role Of Self- Employment In Australia," Papers 1990-07, Tasmania - Department of Economics.
  9. Edward Funkhouser & Stephen J. Trejo, 1995. "The labor market skills of recent male immigrants: Evidence from the Current Population Survey," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 48(4), pages 792-811, July.
  10. Chau, Nancy H & Stark, Oded, 1999. "Migration under Asymmetric Information and Human Capital Formation," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(3), pages 455-83, August.
  11. Robert E. Lucas Jr., 1978. "On the Size Distribution of Business Firms," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 9(2), pages 508-523, Autumn.
  12. George J. Borjas & Stephen G. Bronars, 1989. "Consumer Discrimination and Self-Employment," NBER Working Papers 2627, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  13. Mark C. Regets & Harriet Orcutt Duleep, 1999. "Immigrants and Human-Capital Investment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 186-191, May.
  14. Clark, Kenneth & Drinkwater, Stephen, 2000. "Pushed out or pulled in? Self-employment among ethnic minorities in England and Wales," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(5), pages 603-628, September.
  15. Andrew M. Yuengert, 1995. "Testing Hypotheses of Immigrant Self-Employment," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 30(1), pages 194-204.
  16. Robert W. Fairlie & Bruce D. Meyer, 1996. "Ethnic and Racial Self-Employment Differences and Possible Explanations," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 31(4), pages 757-793.
  17. Carliner, Geoffrey, 1980. "Wages, Earnings and Hours of First, Second, and Third Generation American Males," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 18(1), pages 87-102, January.
  18. Duleep, Harriet Orcutt & Regets, Mark C., 1997. "The decline in immigrant entry earnings: Less transferable skills or lower ability?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(Supplemen), pages 189-208.
  19. Saibal Kar & Basudeb Guha-Khasnobis, 2006. "Foreign Capital, Skill Formation, and Migration of Skilled Workers," Journal of Policy Reform, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 9(2), pages 107-123.
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