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The impact of family size and sibling structure on the great Mexico–USA migration

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  • Massimiliano Bratti

    (Università degli Studi di Milano
    Centro Studi Luca d’Agliano, LdA
    Institute of Labor Economics, IZA
    Global Labor Organization (GLO) gGmbH GLO)

  • Simona Fiore

    (Università degli Studi di Bologna
    Istituto Carlo Cattaneo)

  • Mariapia Mendola

    (Centro Studi Luca d’Agliano, LdA
    Institute of Labor Economics, IZA
    Global Labor Organization (GLO) gGmbH GLO
    Università degli Studi di Milano–Bicocca)

Abstract

We investigate the impact of fertility and demographic factors on the Great Mexico–USA immigration by assessing the causal effects of sibship size and structure on migration decisions within the household. We use a rich demographic survey on the population of Mexico and exploit presumably exogenous variation in family size induced by biological fertility and infertility shocks. We further exploit cross-sibling differences to identify the effects of birth order, siblings’ sex, and siblings’ ages on migration. We find that large families per se do not boost offspring’s emigration. However, the likelihood of migrating is not equally distributed within a household. It is higher for sons and decreases sharply with birth order. The female migration disadvantage also varies with sibling composition by age and gender.

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  • Massimiliano Bratti & Simona Fiore & Mariapia Mendola, 2020. "The impact of family size and sibling structure on the great Mexico–USA migration," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(2), pages 483-529, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:33:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s00148-019-00754-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-019-00754-5
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    3. Simen Markussen & Marte Strøm, 2022. "Children and labor market outcomes: separating the effects of the first three children," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(1), pages 135-167, January.
    4. Bertoli, Simone & Gautrain, Elsa & Murard, Elie, 2020. "Left Behind, but Not Alone: Changes in Living Arrangements and the Effects of Migration and Remittances in Mexico," IZA Discussion Papers 13917, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Jan Priebe, 2020. "Quasi-experimental evidence for the causal link between fertility and subjective well-being," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 839-882, July.
    6. Olivier Bargain & Jordan Loper & Roberta Ziparo, 2024. "Women's Empowerment and Husband's Migration: Evidence from Indonesia," CERDI Working papers hal-04409953, HAL.
    7. Heidland, Tobias & Jannsen, Nils & Groll, Dominik & Kalweit, René & Boockmann, Bernhard, 2021. "Analyse und Prognose von Migrationsbewegungen," Kieler Beiträge zur Wirtschaftspolitik 34, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    8. Yu Bai & Yanjun Li & Pak Hung Lam, 2023. "Quantity-quality trade-off in Northeast China during the Qing dynasty," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1657-1694, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    International migration; Mexico; Family size; Sibling structure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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