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Firms Left Behind: Emigration and Firm Productivity

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  • Yvonne Giesing

  • Nadzeya Laurentsyeva

Abstract

This paper establishes a causal link between the emigration of skilled workers and firm performance in source countries. Using firm-level panel data from ten Eastern European countries, we show that the emigration of skilled workers lowers firm total factor productivity. We exploit time, country, and industry differences in the opening of EU labor markets from 2004 to 2014 as a source of exogenous variation in the emigration rates from new EU member states. We argue that a potential channel behind this effect relates to the reduction in firm-specific human capital due to a higher worker turnover.

Suggested Citation

  • Yvonne Giesing & Nadzeya Laurentsyeva, 2017. "Firms Left Behind: Emigration and Firm Productivity," CESifo Working Paper Series 6815, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6815
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Volker Grossmann & David Stadelmann, 2013. "Wage Effects of High-Skilled Migration: International Evidence," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 27(2), pages 297-319.
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    12. Michael A. Clemens, 2013. "Why Do Programmers Earn More in Houston Than Hyderabad? Evidence from Randomized Processing of US Visas," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(3), pages 198-202, May.
    13. Beine, Michel & Docquier, Frederic & Rapoport, Hillel, 2001. "Brain drain and economic growth: theory and evidence," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 275-289, February.
    14. Christian Dustmann & Tommaso Frattini & Anna Rosso, 2015. "The Effect of Emigration from Poland on Polish Wages," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 117(2), pages 522-564, April.
    15. DaVanzo, Julie, 1983. "Repeat Migration in the United States: Who Moves Back and Who Moves On?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 65(4), pages 552-559, November.
    16. M Daniele Paserman, 2013. "Do high-skill immigrants raise productivity? Evidence from Israeli manufacturing firms, 1990-1999," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-31, December.
    17. Christian Dustmann & Albrecht Glitz, 2015. "How Do Industries and Firms Respond to Changes in Local Labor Supply?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(3), pages 711-750.
    18. Benjamin Elsner, 2013. "Does emigration benefit the stayers? Evidence from EU enlargement," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 26(2), pages 531-553, April.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Paolo Croce & Matteo Filippi & Paolo Piselli & Andrea Ramazzotti, 2025. "Internal Migration, Local Development and Structural Change: Evidence from the Italian Golden Age," CSEF Working Papers 751, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    2. Giesing, Yvonne & Schikora, Felicitas, 2023. "Emigrants’ missing votes," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Massimo Anelli & Gætano Basso & Giuseppe Ippedico & Giovanni Peri, 2020. "Does Emigration Drain Entrepreneurs?," CESifo Working Paper Series 8388, CESifo.
    4. Annamaria Nifo & Domenico Scalera & Gaetano Vecchione, 2020. "Does skilled migration reduce investment in human capital? An investigation on educational choices in Italian regions (2001–2016)," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(4), pages 781-802, November.
    5. Dicarlo, Emanuele, 2022. "How Do Firms Adjust to Negative Labor Supply Shocks? Evidence from Migration Outflows," IZA Discussion Papers 14994, IZA Network @ LISER.
    6. Massimo Anelli & Gaetano Basso & Giuseppe Ippedico & Giovanni Peri, 2019. "Youth Drain Entrepreneurship and Innovation," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1240, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    7. Daniel Garrote Sánchez & Janis Kreuder & Mauro Testaverde, 2021. "Migration in Bulgaria," World Bank Publications - Reports 36800, The World Bank Group.
    8. Kai Fischer, 2023. "Skilled Labour Migration and Firm Performance: Evidence from English Hospitals and Brexit," CESifo Working Paper Series 10747, CESifo.
    9. Emanuele Dicarlo, 2022. "How do firms adjust to a negative labor supply shock? Evidence form migration outflows," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1361, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    10. Rob Gandy & Chris Mulhearn, 2021. "Allowing for unemployment in productivity measurement," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 1-38, January.
    11. Fackler, Thomas A. & Giesing, Yvonne & Laurentsyeva, Nadzeya, 2020. "Knowledge remittances: Does emigration foster innovation?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(9).

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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