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Self-Selection Patterns among Return Migrants: Mexico 1990-2010

Author

Listed:
  • Raymundo M. Campos Vázquez

    (El Colegio de México)

  • Jaime Lara Lara

    (El Colegio de México)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the self-selection patterns among Mexican return migrants during the period from 1990 to 2010. Using census data, we can identify return migrants who have lived in the United States within the previous 5 years but who currently live in Mexico. To calculate the selection patterns, we non parametrically estimate the counterfactual wages that the return migrants would have experienced had they never migrated by using the wage structure of non migrants. We find evidence that the selection patterns change over time toward negative selection. For example, in 1990, the wages that the male return migrants would have experienced had they not migrated was 6 percent larger than the wages of male non migrants. However, by 2010, the difference had declined to -14 percent. The increasing negativity of the degree of selection is robust to the analysis of specific subgroups: rural and urban, men and women, and states with high migration rates and low migration rates. Moreover, the negative selection results for the period from 2000 to 2010 are robust to the use of different surveys that define a return migrant by using distinct characteristics. Additionally, we observe that the wages of return migrants are larger than those that the migrants would have obtained had they not migrated. This finding shows that migration has a positive effect on the Mexican economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Raymundo M. Campos Vázquez & Jaime Lara Lara, 2011. "Self-Selection Patterns among Return Migrants: Mexico 1990-2010," Serie documentos de trabajo del Centro de Estudios Económicos 2011-09, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos.
  • Handle: RePEc:emx:ceedoc:2011-09
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    Cited by:

    1. Jackline Wahba, 2014. "Return migration and economic development," Chapters, in: Robert E.B. Lucas (ed.), International Handbook on Migration and Economic Development, chapter 12, pages 327-349, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Francisca Antman, 2015. "Gender discrimination in the allocation of migrant household resources," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(3), pages 565-592, July.
    3. Andrés Villarreal, 2016. "The Education-Occupation Mismatch of International and Internal Migrants in Mexico, 2005–2012," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(3), pages 865-883, June.
    4. Michael S. Rendall & Susan W. Parker, 2014. "Two Decades of Negative Educational Selectivity of Mexican Migrants to the United States," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 40(3), pages 421-446, September.
    5. Elsner, Benjamin & Narciso, Gaia & Thijssen, Jacco J. J., 2013. "Migrant Networks and the Spread of Misinformation," IZA Discussion Papers 7863, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Matthieu Delpierre & Bertrand Verheyden, 2014. "Remittances, savings and return migration under uncertainty," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-43, December.
    7. Qing Wang & Ting Ren & Ti Liu, 2019. "Training, skill-upgrading and settlement intention of migrants: Evidence from China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(13), pages 2779-2801, October.
    8. Nicole Denier & Claudia Masferrer, 2020. "Returning to a New Mexican Labor Market? Regional Variation in the Economic Incorporation of Return Migrants from the U.S. to Mexico," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(4), pages 617-641, August.
    9. Emilio A. Parrado & Chenoa A. Flippen, 2016. "The Departed," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 666(1), pages 131-147, July.
    10. Auer, Daniel & Schaub, Max, 2023. "Returning from greener pastures? How exposure to returnees affects migration plans," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mexican migration; self-selection; return migration; wages;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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