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Understanding Different Migrant Selection Patterns in Rural and Urban Mexico

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  • Jesus Fernández-Huertas Moraga

Abstract

The productive characteristics of migrating individuals, emigrant selection, affect welfare. The empirical estimation of the degree of selection suffers from a lack of complete and nationally representative data. This paper uses a dataset that addresses both issues: the ENET (Mexican Labor Survey), which identifies migrants right before they leave and allows a direct comparison to non-migrants. This dataset presents a relevant dichotomy: it shows negative selection for urban Mexican emigrants to the United States for the period 2000-2004 together with positive selection in Mexican emigration out of rural Mexico to the United States in the same period. Three theories that could explain this dichotomy are tested. Whereas higher skill prices in Mexico than in the US are enough to explain half of the negative selection result in urban Mexico, its combination with network effects and wealth constraints fully account for positive selection in rural Mexico.

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  • Jesus Fernández-Huertas Moraga, 2013. "Understanding Different Migrant Selection Patterns in Rural and Urban Mexico," Working Papers 2013-02, FEDEA.
    • Handle: RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2013-02
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    6. Gröger, André, 2021. "Easy come, easy go? Economic shocks, labor migration and the family left behind," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    7. Cervellati, Matteo & Esposito, Elena & Sunde, Uwe & Yuan, Song, 2022. "Malaria and Chinese economic activities in Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    8. Alexander Patt & Jens Ruhose & Simon Wiederhold & Miguel Flores, 2021. "International Emigrant Selection on Occupational Skills," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(2), pages 1249-1298.
    9. Masamune Iwasawa & Mitsuo Inada & Seiichi Fukui, 2014. "How Migrant Heterogeneity Influences the Effect of Remittances on Educational Expenditure:Empirical Evidence from the Cambodian Socio-Economic Survey," KIER Working Papers 898, Kyoto University, Institute of Economic Research.
    10. Zachary Ward, 2015. "The U-Shaped Self-Selection of Return Migrants," CEH Discussion Papers 035, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    11. Rosso, Anna, 2019. "Emigrant selection and wages: The case of Poland," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 148-175.
    12. Duncan, Alan & Harris, Mark N. & Mavisakalyan, Astghik & Nguyen, Toan, 2020. "Migration flows in commodity cycles: Assessing the role of migration policies," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    13. Simone Bertoli & Hillel Rapoport, 2015. "Heaven's Swing Door: Endogenous Skills, Migration Networks, and the Effectiveness of Quality-Selective Immigration Policies," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 117(2), pages 565-591, April.
    14. Anda David & Joachim Jarreau, 2017. "Migrating out of a crowded labor market: evidence from Egypt," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-28, December.
    15. Laurent Bossavie & Anastasiya Denisova, 2018. "Youth Labor Migration in Nepal," World Bank Publications - Reports 29682, The World Bank Group.
    16. Simone Bertoli & Francesca Marchetta, 2014. "Migration, Remittances and Poverty in Ecuador," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(8), pages 1067-1089, August.
    17. Isabelle Chort & Jean-Noël Senne, 2012. "Intra-household Selection into Migration : Evidence from a Matched Sample of Migrants and Origin Households in Senegal," Post-Print hal-01516775, HAL.
    18. Isabelle Chort & Jean-Noël Senne, 2017. "Intra-household Selection into Migration: Evidence from a Matched Sample of Migrants and Origin Households in Senegal," PSE Working Papers hal-01516104, HAL.
    19. 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).
    20. Biavaschi, Costanza & Elsner, Benjamin, 2013. "Let's Be Selective about Migrant Self-Selection," IZA Discussion Papers 7865, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    21. Fernández-Huertas Moraga, Jesús, 2013. "Understanding different migrant selection patterns in rural and urban Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 182-201.
    22. Li Shan, 2020. "Rainfall and self-selection patterns in Mexico-US migration," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-32, January.
    23. Mariele Macaluso, 2022. "The influence of skill-based policies on the immigrant selection process," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(2), pages 595-621, July.
    24. Spitzer, Yannay & Zimran, Ariell, 2018. "Migrant self-selection: Anthropometric evidence from the mass migration of Italians to the United States, 1907–1925," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 226-247.
    25. Vladimir Hlasny & Shireen AlAzzawi, 2020. "Return Migration and Earnings Mobility in Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia," Working Papers 562, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • 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
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • D33 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Factor Income Distribution

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