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Migration and Mental Health: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

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Author Info
Steven Stillman () (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research)
David McKenzie (Development Research Group, The World Bank)
John Gibson (University of Waikato)

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Abstract

People migrate to improve their well-being, whether through an expansion of economic and social opportunities or a reduction in persecution. Yet a large literature suggests that migration can be a very stressful process, with potentially negative impacts on mental health reducing the net benefits of migration. However, to truly understand the effect of migration on mental health one must compare the mental health of migrants to what their mental health would have been had they stayed in their home country. The existing literature is not able to do this and typically settles for comparing the mental health of migrants to that of natives in the destination country,which takes no account of any pre-existing differences between these groups. This paper overcomes the selection problems affecting previous studies of the effect of migration on mental health by examining a migrant lottery program. New Zealand allows a quota of Tongans to immigrate each year with a lottery used to choose amongst the excess number of applicants. A unique survey conducted by the authors in these two countries allows experimental estimates of the mental health effects of migration to be obtained by comparing the mental health of migrants who were successful applicants in the lottery to the mental health of those who applied to migrate under the quota, but whose names were not drawn in the lottery. Migration is found to lead to improvements in mental health, particularly for women and those with poor mental health in their home country.

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File URL: ftp://mngt.waikato.ac.nz/RePEc/wai/econwp/0604.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by University of Waikato, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers in Economics with number 06/04.

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Length: 37 pages
Date of creation: 31 Mar 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:wai:econwp:06/04

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Related research
Keywords: migration; mental health; natural experiment;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Production
J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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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. David McKenzie & John Gibson & Steven Stillman, 2006. "How Important is Selection? Experimental vs Non-experimental Measures of Income Gains from Migration," Working Papers in Economics 06/03, University of Waikato, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. David McKenzie & John Gibson & Steven Stillman, 2006. "How Important Is Selection? Experimental vs. Non-Experimental Measures of the Income Gains from Migration," IZA Discussion Papers 2087, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  3. Joshua Angrist, 2004. "Treatment Effect Heterogeneity in Theory and Practice," Econometric Society 2004 North American Winter Meetings 186, Econometric Society.
    Other versions:
  4. James Heckman & Neil Hohmann & Jeffrey Smith & Michael Khoo, 2000. "Substitution And Dropout Bias In Social Experiments: A Study Of An Influential Social Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 115(2), pages 651-694, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
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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. John Gibson & David McKenzie & Steven Stillman, 2009. "The Impacts of International Migration on Remaining Household Members: Omnibus Results from a Migration Lottery Program," CReAM Discussion Paper Series 0920, Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. David McKenzie & John Gibson & Steven Stillman, 2007. "Moving to Opportunity, Leaving Behind What? Evaluating the Initial Effects of a Migration Policy on Incomes and Poverty in Source Areas," Working Papers in Economics 07/23, University of Waikato, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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