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Propensity Score Matching, a Distance-Based Measure of Migration, and the Wage Growth of Young Men

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Author Info
John C. Ham () (Department of Economics and CHRR, Ohio State University, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and IZA)
Xianghong Li (Department of Economics, York University)
Patricia B. Reagan (Department of Economics and CHRR, Ohio State University)
Abstract

Our analysis of migration differs from previous research in three important aspects. First, we exploit the confidential geocoding in the NLSY79 to obtain a distance-based measure. Second, we let the effect of migration on wage growth differ by schooling level. Third, we use propensity score matching to measure the effect of migration on the wages of those who move. We develop an economic model and use it to (i) assess the appropriateness of matching as an econometric method for studying migration and (ii) choose the conditioning variables used in the matching procedure. Our data set provides a rich array of variables on which to match. We find a significant effect of migration on the wage growth of college graduates of 10 percent, and a marginally significant effect for high school dropouts of ¨C12 percent. If we use either a measure of migration based on moving across county lines or state lines, the significant effects of migration for college graduates and dropouts disappear.

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File URL: http://dept.econ.yorku.ca/research/workingPapers/working_papers/2004/migration.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by York University, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 2004_3.

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Length: 50 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2004
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Handle: RePEc:yca:wpaper:2004_3

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Related research
Keywords: Propensity score matching; distance-based migration; wage growth;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies
J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
C4 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics

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  4. Falaris, Evangelos M, 1987. "A Nested Logit Migration Model with Selectivity," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 28(2), pages 429-43, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. James Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Jeffrey Smith & Petra Todd, 1998. "Characterizing Selection Bias Using Experimental Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 66(5), pages 1017-1098, September.
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  15. Heckman, James J & Ichimura, Hidehiko & Todd, Petra, 1998. "Matching as an Econometric Evaluation Estimator," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 65(2), pages 261-94, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  24. Topel, Robert H & Ward, Michael P, 1992. "Job Mobility and the Careers of Young Men," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 107(2), pages 439-79, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  25. Gordon B. Dahl, 2002. "Mobility and the Return to Education: Testing a Roy Model with Multiple Markets," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(6), pages 2367-2420, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  29. Chris Robinson & Nigel Tomes, 1982. "Self-Selection and Interprovincial Migration in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 15(3), pages 474-502, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  30. Guido W. Imbens, 2004. "Nonparametric Estimation of Average Treatment Effects Under Exogeneity: A Review," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 4-29, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  31. Jinyong Hahn, 1998. "On the Role of the Propensity Score in Efficient Semiparametric Estimation of Average Treatment Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 66(2), pages 315-332, March.
  32. Andrews, Donald W. K. & Buchinsky, Moshe, 2001. "Evaluation of a three-step method for choosing the number of bootstrap repetitions," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 103(1-2), pages 345-386, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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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. Chung-Hua Shen & Yuan Chang, 2009. "Ambition Versus Conscience, Does Corporate Social Responsibility Pay off? The Application of Matching Methods," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(1), pages 133-153, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. repec:ese:iserwp: is not listed on IDEAS
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