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Cultural biases in migration: Estimating non‐monetary migration costs

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  • Oliver Falck
  • Alfred Lameli
  • Jens Ruhose

Abstract

We monetize the cost for moving to a culturally different location. We combine administrative social security panel data with a proxy for cultural difference based on historical dialect dissimilarity between German counties. Conditional on geographic distance and pre‐migration wage profiles, we find that migrants demand a (indexed with respect to local rents) wage premium of about 1 (1.5) per cent for overcoming one standard deviation in cultural dissimilarity. The effect is driven by males and those who earn above average occupational wages before migration, and more pronounced for geographically short moves. Se monetiza el costo de mudarse a una ubicación culturalmente diferente. Se combinan datos administrativos de panel de la seguridad social con un proxy de la diferencia cultural, basado en la diferencia histórica del dialecto entre condados alemanes. Dependiendo de la distancia geográfica y los perfiles salariales previos a la migración, se encontró que los migrantes demandan una prima salarial (indexada con respecto a las rentas locales) de aproximadamente 1 (1,5) por ciento para superar una desviación estándar en cuanto a diferencia cultural. El efecto está impulsado por los varones y por quienes ganan salarios ocupacionales superiores al promedio antes de la migración, y es más pronunciado para movimientos geográficamente cortos. 本稿では、文化の異なる場所への移住に関わるコストを金銭的価値で算出する。行政の社会保障パネルデータを、ドイツの郡間の現地語の違いに基づく文化的な違いのproxyと組み合わせる。地理的距離と移住前の賃金プロファイルによるが、移住者は異文化性の標準偏差を一つ克服するために1(1.5)%の(現地の家賃に関して指数をつけた)賃金プレミアムを要求することがわかった。この作用は、男性と移住の前の稼ぎがその職業の平均の賃金よりも多い人に促進され、地理的に距離の少ない移住ではより増強される。

Suggested Citation

  • Oliver Falck & Alfred Lameli & Jens Ruhose, 2018. "Cultural biases in migration: Estimating non‐monetary migration costs," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 97(2), pages 411-438, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:presci:v:97:y:2018:i:2:p:411-438
    DOI: 10.1111/pirs.12243
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    3. Amir Maghssudipour & Annalisa Caloffi & Marco Bellandi & Letizia Donati, 2022. "Language as a regional driver of the trade of place-sensitive products: The case of made-in-Italy goods," Working Papers - Economics wp2022_09.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    4. Imran Arif, 2020. "The determinants of international migration: Unbundling the role of economic, political and social institutions," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(6), pages 1699-1729, June.
    5. Wu, Xianhua & Deng, Huai & Huang, Yuxiang & Guo, Ji, 2022. "Air pollution, migration costs, and urban residents’ welfare: A spatial general equilibrium analysis from China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 396-409.
    6. Donghui Song & Fengbo Chen & Xi Ouyang, 2024. "The Impact of Changes in Rural Family Structure on Agricultural Productivity and Efficiency: Evidence from Rice Farmers in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-21, May.
    7. Tim Krieger & Laura Renner & Jens Ruhose, 2015. "Genetic Distance and International Migrant Selection," CESifo Working Paper Series 5453, CESifo.
    8. Kremer, Anna, 2020. "Home is where the heart is? How regional identity hinders internal migration in Germany," CEPIE Working Papers 05/20, Technische Universität Dresden, Center of Public and International Economics (CEPIE).
    9. Xiong, Jiacai & Yang, Zelin & Wang, Xin & Chan, Kam C., 2023. "Does dialect diversity affect entrepreneurial activities? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    10. Kenji Kondoh, 2020. "A paradoxical immigration restriction policy for unskilled illegal immigrants," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 479-497, June.
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    12. Jens Suedekum, 2018. "Economic effects of differences in dialect," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 414-414, January.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D51 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Exchange and Production Economies
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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