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Home Sweet Home? Macroeconomic Conditions in Home Countries and the Well-Being of Migrants

Author

Listed:
  • Alpaslan Akay

    (GU - Göteborgs Universitet = University of Gothenburg, IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor)

  • Olivier Bargain

    (GREQAM - Groupement de Recherche en Économie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Klaus F. Zimmermann

    (IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn)

Abstract

This paper examines whether the subjective well-being of migrants is responsive to fluctuations in macroeconomic conditions in their country of origin. Using the German Socio-Economic Panel for the years 1984 to 2009 and macroeconomic variables for 24 countries of origin, we exploit country-year variation for identification of the effect and panel data to control for migrants' observed and unobserved characteristics. We find strong evidence that migrants' well-being responds negatively to an increase in the GDP of their home country. That is, migrants seem to regard home countries as natural comparators, which grounds the idea of relative deprivation underlying the decision to migrate. The effect declines with years-since-migration and with the degree of assimilation in Germany.

Suggested Citation

  • Alpaslan Akay & Olivier Bargain & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2017. "Home Sweet Home? Macroeconomic Conditions in Home Countries and the Well-Being of Migrants," Post-Print hal-01589996, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01589996
    DOI: 10.3368/jhr.52.2.0115-6900R1
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • C90 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - General
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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