IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/fep/journl/v17y2004i1p18-34.html

Is International Labour Mobility a Threat to the Welfare State? Evidence from Finland in the 1990s

Author

Listed:
  • Jukka Pirttilä

    (Bank of Finland, Finland)

Abstract

This paper assesses the factors behind Finnish emigration and return migration in the 1990s. Logit-analysis using combined micro data from the labour force survey and emigration statistics in 1990–1999 reveals that, when controlling for other background characteristics, highly educated individuals are 5 times more prone to emigrate than individuals with secondary education only. There is no similar difference in the return migration propensities within individuals of different educational levels. Panel-data analysis based on country-level data on the migration destination countries of the (even highly educated) Finnish emigrants in 1990–2000 reveals, however, that migration has not been directed towards countries with low tax rates. These findings therefore suggest that while there is some evidence that the Finnish welfare state may suffer from the selection of emigration incidence on highly educated workforce, emigration has mainly been determined by other factors than potential tax competition on mobile labour.

Suggested Citation

  • Jukka Pirttilä, 2004. "Is International Labour Mobility a Threat to the Welfare State? Evidence from Finland in the 1990s," Finnish Economic Papers, Finnish Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 18-34, Spring.
    • Handle: RePEc:fep:journl:v:17:y:2004:i:1:p:18-34
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.taloustieteellinenyhdistys.fi/images/stories/fep/fep12004_pirttila.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cremer, Helmuth & et al, 1996. "Mobility and Redistribution: A Survey," Public Finance = Finances publiques, , vol. 51(3), pages 325-352.
    2. de Mooij, Ruud A & Ederveen, Sjef, 2003. "Taxation and Foreign Direct Investment: A Synthesis of Empirical Research," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 10(6), pages 673-693, November.
    3. George J. Borjas & Bernt Bratsberg, 2021. "Who Leaves? The Outmigration Of The Foreign-Born," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 5, pages 93-104, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    4. de Mooij, Ruud A & Ederveen, Sjef, 2003. "Taxation and Foreign Direct Investment: A Synthesis of Empirical Research," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 10(6), pages 673-693, November.
    5. Rosanne Altshuler & Timothy J. Goodspeed, 2015. "Follow the Leader? Evidence on European and US Tax Competition," Public Finance Review, , vol. 43(4), pages 485-504, July.
    6. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mario Morger, 2013. "What Do Immigrants Value Most About Switzerland? Evidence of the Relative Importance of Income Taxes," CESifo Working Paper Series 4134, CESifo.
    2. Poutvaara, Panu & Munk, Martin D. & Junge, Martin, 2009. "Self-Selection and Earnings of Emigrants from a Welfare State," IZA Discussion Papers 4144, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. George J Borjas & Ilpo Kauppinen & Panu Poutvaara, 2019. "Self-selection of Emigrants: Theory and Evidence on Stochastic Dominance in Observable and Unobservable Characteristics," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 129(617), pages 143-171.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alexander Klemm & Stefan Parys, 2012. "Empirical evidence on the effects of tax incentives," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 19(3), pages 393-423, June.
    2. Markus Leibrecht & Claudia Hochgatterer, 2012. "Tax Competition As A Cause Of Falling Corporate Income Tax Rates: A Survey Of Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 616-648, September.
    3. Assaf Razin & Efraim Sadka, 2007. "Productivity and Taxes as Drivers of FDI," Working Papers 172007, Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research.
    4. Albert Wijeweera & Don Clark, 2006. "Taxation and Foreign Direct Investment Inflows: Time Series Evidence from the US," Global Economic Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(2), pages 135-143.
    5. Thiess Buettner & Georg Wamser, 2009. "The impact of nonprofit taxes on foreign direct investment: evidence from German multinationals," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 16(3), pages 298-320, June.
    6. Azémar, Céline & Desbordes, Rodolphe & Wooton, Ian, 2020. "Is international tax competition only about taxes? A market-based perspective," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 891-912.
    7. Miniaci Raffaele & Panteghini Paolo M. & Rivolta Giulia, 2022. "The estimation of reaction functions under tax competition," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 23(2), pages 301-339, May.
    8. Andreas Haufler & Sven Stöwhase, 2003. "Taxes as a Determinant for Foreign Direct Investment in Europe," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 1(2), pages 45-51, 02.
    9. Martial Foucault & Thierry Madies & Sonia Paty, 2008. "Public spending interactions and local politics. Empirical evidence from French municipalities," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 57-80, October.
    10. Ralf Kronberger, 2005. "Welche Bedeutung hat eine alternde Bevölkerung für das österreichische Steueraufkommen?," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 3(1), pages 197-218.
    11. Veronika Nálepová, 2017. "Affects Corporate Taxation Economic Growth? - Dynamic Approach for OECD Countries," European Journal of Business Science and Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics, vol. 3(2), pages 132-147.
    12. Michael P Devereux, 2007. "Taxes in the EU New Member States and the Location of Capital and Profit," Working Papers 0703, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    13. Young Lee, 2020. "Competition in Corporate and Personal Income Tax: Evidence from 67 Developed and Developing Countries," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 36, pages 101-133.
    14. Posick, Chad & Gould, Laurie A., 2015. "On the general relationship between victimization and offending: Examining cultural contingencies," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 195-204.
    15. Assaf Razin & Yona Rubinstein & Efraim Sadka, 2005. "Corporate Taxation and Bilateral FDI with Threshold Barriers," NBER Working Papers 11196, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Devereux, Michael & Bond, Stephen Roy, 2002. "Cash Flow Taxes in an Open Economy," CEPR Discussion Papers 3401, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Francesco Giffoni & Matteo Gomellini, 2015. "Brain Gain in the Age of Mass Migration," Quaderni di storia economica (Economic History Working Papers) 34, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    18. Hans Pitlik, 2005. "Folgt die Steuerpolitik in der EU der Logik des Steuerwettbewerbs," Diskussionspapiere aus dem Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Hohenheim 256/2005, Department of Economics, University of Hohenheim, Germany.
    19. Hakim Hammadou & Sonia Paty & Maria Savona, 2012. "Strategic interactions in public R&D across EU-15 countries: A spatial econometric analysis," LEM Papers Series 2012/14, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    20. Isabel Faeth, 2009. "Determinants Of Foreign Direct Investment – A Tale Of Nine Theoretical Models," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(1), pages 165-196, February.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fep:journl:v:17:y:2004:i:1:p:18-34. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Editorial Secretary The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask Editorial Secretary to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/talouea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.