IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ces/ceswps/_6692.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Healthy Immigrant Paradox and Health Convergence

Author

Listed:
  • Amelie F. Constant

Abstract

The health status of people is a precious commodity and central to economic, socio-political, and environmental dimensions of any country. Yet it is often the missing statistic in all general statistics, demographics, and presentations about the portrait of immigrants and natives. In this paper we are concerned with international migration and health outcomes in the host countries. Through a general literature review and examination of specific immigration countries, we provide insights into the Healthy Immigrant Paradox and the health assimilation of immigrants as we also elucidate selection and measurement challenges. While health is part of human capital, health assimilation is the mirror image of earnings assimilation. Namely, immigrants arrive with better health compared to natives and their health deteriorates with longer residence in the host country, converging to the health of natives or becoming even worse. A deeper understanding of immigrant health trajectories, and disparities with natives and other immigrants is of great value to societies and policymakers, who can design appropriate policy frameworks that address public health challenges, and prevent the health deterioration of immigrants.

Suggested Citation

  • Amelie F. Constant, 2017. "The Healthy Immigrant Paradox and Health Convergence," CESifo Working Paper Series 6692, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6692
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp6692.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Amelie F. Constant & Teresa García-Muñoz & Shoshana Neuman & Tzahi Neuman, 2018. "A “healthy immigrant effect” or a “sick immigrant effect”? Selection and policies matter," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(1), pages 103-121, January.
    2. Guillermina Jasso & Douglas S. Massey & Mark R. Rosenzweig & James P. Smith, 2004. "Immigrant Health--Selectivity and Acculturation," Labor and Demography 0412002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Liam Delaney & Alan Fernihough & James Smith, 2013. "Exporting Poor Health: The Irish in England," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(6), pages 2013-2035, December.
    4. Heather Antecol & Kelly Bedard, 2006. "Unhealthy assimilation: Why do immigrants converge to American health status levels?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(2), pages 337-360, May.
    5. Erika Arenas & Noreen Goldman & Anne Pebley & Graciela Teruel, 2015. "Return Migration to Mexico: Does Health Matter?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(6), pages 1853-1868, December.
    6. Julien Teitler & Melissa Martinson & Nancy E. Reichman, 2017. "Does Life in the United States Take a Toll on Health? Duration of Residence and Birthweight among Six Decades of Immigrants," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 37-66, March.
    7. Noreen Goldman & Anne Pebley & Mathew Creighton & Graciela Teruel & Luis Rubalcava & Chang Chung, 2014. "The Consequences of Migration to the United States for Short-Term Changes in the Health of Mexican Immigrants," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(4), pages 1159-1173, August.
    8. Neil Mehta & Irma Elo, 2012. "Migrant Selection and the Health of U.S. Immigrants From the Former Soviet Union," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(2), pages 425-447, May.
    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. Kevin Claassen & Horst Christoph Broding, 2019. "Mental Strain of Immigrants in the Working Context," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-9, August.
    2. Jason A. Douglas & Georgiana Bostean & Angel Miles Nash & Emmanuel B. John & Lawrence M. Brown & Andrew M. Subica, 2022. "Citizenship Matters: Non-Citizen COVID-19 Mortality Disparities in New York and Los Angeles," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-12, April.
    3. Constant, Amelie F. & Milewski, Nadja, 2021. "Self-selection in physical and mental health among older intra-European migrants," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    4. Amelie F. Constant, 2020. "Time-Space Dynamics of Return and Circular Migration: Theories and Evidence," CESifo Working Paper Series 8053, CESifo.
    5. Gabriella Berloffa & Francesca Paolini, 2019. "Decomposing Immigrant Differences in Physical and Mental Health: A 'Beyond the Mean' Analysis," DEM Working Papers 2019/4, Department of Economics and Management.
    6. Bettin, Giulia & Sacchi, Agnese, 2020. "Health spending in Italy: The impact of immigrants," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).

    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. repec:ces:ifodic:v:15:y:2017:i:3:p:50000000000047 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Neil K. Mehta & Irma T. Elo & Michal Engelman & Diane S. Lauderdale & Bert M. Kestenbaum, 2016. "Life Expectancy Among U.S.-born and Foreign-born Older Adults in the United States: Estimates From Linked Social Security and Medicare Data," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(4), pages 1109-1134, August.
    3. Bettin, Giulia & Sacchi, Agnese, 2020. "Health spending in Italy: The impact of immigrants," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    4. Amelie F. Constant & Teresa García-Muñoz & Shoshana Neuman & Tzahi Neuman, 2018. "A “healthy immigrant effect” or a “sick immigrant effect”? Selection and policies matter," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(1), pages 103-121, January.
    5. Gabriella Berloffa & Francesca Paolini, 2019. "Decomposing Immigrant Differences in Physical and Mental Health: A 'Beyond the Mean' Analysis," DEM Working Papers 2019/4, Department of Economics and Management.
    6. Martinson, Melissa L. & Tienda, Marta & Teitler, Julien O., 2017. "Low birthweight among immigrants in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 168-176.
    7. Fernando Riosmena & Randall Kuhn & Warren C. Jochem, 2017. "Explaining the Immigrant Health Advantage: Self-selection and Protection in Health-Related Factors Among Five Major National-Origin Immigrant Groups in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(1), pages 175-200, February.
    8. Christina J. Diaz & Liwen Zeng & Ana P. Martinez-Donate, 2018. "Investigating Health Selection Within Mexico and Across the US Border," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(2), pages 181-204, April.
    9. Constant, Amelie F. & Milewski, Nadja, 2021. "Self-selection in physical and mental health among older intra-European migrants," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    10. Ro, Annie & Fleischer, Nancy, 2014. "Changes in health selection of obesity among Mexican immigrants: A binational examination," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 114-124.
    11. Zaiceva, A. & Zimmermann, K.F., 2016. "Migration and the Demographic Shift," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 119-177, Elsevier.
    12. Ro, Annie & Fleischer, Nancy L. & Blebu, Bridgette, 2016. "An examination of health selection among U.S. immigrants using multi-national data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 114-121.
    13. Thoa V. Khuu, 2024. "Mapping Immigrant Health Trajectories: Investigating the Implications of Institutional Selection and Post-arrival Support Across Legal-Entry Pathways," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(1), pages 1-28, February.
    14. Michal Engelman & Bert M. Kestenbaum & Megan L. Zuelsdorff & Neil K. Mehta & Diane S. Lauderdale, 2017. "Work Disability Among Native-born and Foreign-born Americans: On Origins, Health, and Social Safety Nets," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(6), pages 2273-2300, December.
    15. Silvia Loi & Jo Mhairi Hale, 2019. "Migrant health convergence and the role of material deprivation," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(32), pages 933-962.
    16. Sun, Nan & Yang, Fan, 2021. "Impacts of internal migration experience on health among middle-aged and older adults—Evidence from China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    17. repec:pri:crcwel:wp08-15-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Jatrana, Santosh & Pasupuleti, Samba Siva Rao & Richardson, Ken, 2014. "Nativity, duration of residence and chronic health conditions in Australia: Do trends converge towards the native-born population?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 53-63.
    19. Barbieri, Paolo Nicola & Nguyen, Hieu M., 2021. "When in America, do as the Americans? The evolution of health behaviors and outcomes across immigrant cohorts," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    20. Touma, Fatima & Hummer, Robert A., 2022. "Race/ethnicity, immigrant generation, and physiological dysregulation among U.S. adults entering midlife," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    21. Santosh Jatrana & Ken Richardson & Samba Siva Rao Pasupuleti, 2018. "Investigating the Dynamics of Migration and Health in Australia: A Longitudinal Study," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 34(4), pages 519-565, October.
    22. Hamilton, Tod G. & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2013. "Changes in income inequality and the health of immigrants," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 57-66.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    health status; healthy immigrant paradox; international migration; assimilation; age-cohort-period effects; selection; aging;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I00 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - General - - - General
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J00 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - General
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ces:ceswps:_6692. 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: Klaus Wohlrabe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cesifde.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.