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Regional migration and wage inequality in the West African economic and monetary union

Author

Listed:
  • Esther Mirjam Girsberger

    (UTS - University of Technology Sydney, IZA - Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit - Institute of Labor Economics)

  • Romuald Méango

    (Max-Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy)

  • Hillel Rapoport

    (PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

Abstract

We investigate the impact of intra-regional migration on wage inequality in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). We exploit unique data from a unified labour force household survey which covers natives and migrants in the seven economic capital cities of that region. We first estimate the counterfactual wage distributions of UEMOA migrants in absence of migration to evaluate the compositional effect of migration (i.e., when wages are treated as exogenous). We find that regional migration increases average wages by 1.8% and generates a decrease in inequality that ranges between −1.5% (for the Gini index) and −4.5% (for the interquartile ratio). This is essentially driven by a reduction in inequality between capital cities, while the effect of migration on within-capital cities inequality is heterogeneous across countries and remains small overall. Second, when accounting for possible general equilibrium effects of migration on stayers' wages (i.e., when wages are treated as endogenous), we find similar to stronger effects on inequality, albeit with a smaller increase in the average wage.

Suggested Citation

  • Esther Mirjam Girsberger & Romuald Méango & Hillel Rapoport, 2020. "Regional migration and wage inequality in the West African economic and monetary union," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-02491701, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:pseptp:halshs-02491701
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2019.10.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Girsberger, Esther Mirjam & Meango, Romuald, 2022. "The Puzzle of Educated Unemployment in West Africa," IZA Discussion Papers 15721, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Jingjing Qu & Aijun Li & Morié Guy-Roland N’Drin, 2023. "Measuring technology inequality across African countries using the concept of efficiency Gini coefficient," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 4107-4138, May.
    3. Simone Bertoli & Frédéric Docquier & Hillel Rapoport & Ilse Ruyssen, 2022. "Weather shocks and migration intentions in Western Africa: insights from a multilevel analysis [Do climate variations explain bilateral migration? A gravity model analysis]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(2), pages 289-323.
    4. Joseph-Simon Görlach & Katarina Kuske, 2022. "Temporary migration entails benefits, but also costs, for sending and receiving countries," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 503-503, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    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

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