IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp5498.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Savings, Asset Holdings, and Temporary Migration

Author

Listed:
  • Dustmann, Christian

    (University College London)

  • Mestres, Josep

    (OECD)

Abstract

This paper analyzes savings and asset holdings of immigrants in relation to their return plans. We argue that savings and asset accumulation may be affected by return plans of immigrants. Further, the way savings and assets are held in the home- and host country may also be related to future return plans. Thus, comparing savings and assets between immigrants and natives may lead to serious underestimation when neglecting the home country component. We show that immigrants with temporary return plans place a higher proportion of their savings in the home country. In addition, both the magnitude and the share of assets and housing value accumulated in the home country are larger for immigrants who consider their migration as temporary, and lower the value of assets and property held in the host country. Finally, and conditional on observable characteristics, we find no evidence that immigrants with temporary migration plans save more than immigrants with permanent migration plans.

Suggested Citation

  • Dustmann, Christian & Mestres, Josep, 2011. "Savings, Asset Holdings, and Temporary Migration," IZA Discussion Papers 5498, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5498
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp5498.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sinning, Mathias, 2007. "Wealth and Asset Holdings of Immigrants in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 3089, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Dean Yang, 2008. "International Migration, Remittances and Household Investment: Evidence from Philippine Migrants’ Exchange Rate Shocks," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(528), pages 591-630, April.
    3. Francine D. Blau & John W. Graham, 1990. "Black-White Differences in Wealth and Asset Composition," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 105(2), pages 321-339.
    4. George J. Borjas, 2021. "Assimilation, Changes in Cohort Quality, and the Earnings of Immigrants," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 2, pages 3-29, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. Deborah A. Cobb‐Clark & Vincent A. Hildebrand, 2006. "The Wealth And Asset Holdings Of U.S.‐Born And Foreign‐Born Households: Evidence From Sipp Data," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 52(1), pages 17-42, March.
    6. Bernt Bratsberg & Erling Barth & Oddbjørn Raaum, 2006. "Local Unemployment and the Relative Wages of Immigrants: Evidence from the Current Population Surveys," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(2), pages 243-263, May.
    7. Darren Lubotsky, 2007. "Chutes or Ladders? A Longitudinal Analysis of Immigrant Earnings," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 115(5), pages 820-867, October.
    8. Dustmann, Christian & Mestres, Josep, 2010. "Remittances and temporary migration," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 62-70, May.
    9. Galor, Oded & Stark, Oded, 1990. "Migrants' Savings, the Probability of Return Migration and Migrants' Performance," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 31(2), pages 463-467, May.
    10. Borjas, George J, 1995. "Assimilation and Changes in Cohort Quality Revisited: What Happened to Immigrant Earnings in the 1980s?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(2), pages 201-245, April.
    11. Thomas Bauer & Mathias Sinning, 2011. "The savings behavior of temporary and permanent migrants in Germany," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 421-449, April.
    12. Coulson, N. Edward, 1999. "Why Are Hispanic- and Asian-American Homeownership Rates So Low?: Immigration and Other Factors," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 209-227, March.
    13. Dustmann, Christian, 1997. "Return migration, uncertainty and precautionary savings," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 295-316, April.
    14. Dustmann, Christian & Kirchkamp, Oliver, 2002. "The optimal migration duration and activity choice after re-migration," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 351-372, April.
    15. Mathias Sinning, 2010. "Homeownership and Economic Performance of Immigrants in Germany," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(2), pages 387-409, February.
    16. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Susan Pozo, 2002. "Precautionary Saving by Young Immigrants and Young Natives," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 69(1), pages 48-71, July.
    17. Woodruff, Christopher & Zenteno, Rene, 2007. "Migration networks and microenterprises in Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 509-528, March.
    18. Erling Barth & Bernt Bratsberg & Oddbjørn Raaum, 2004. "Identifying Earnings Assimilation of Immigrants under Changing Macroeconomic Conditions," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 106(1), pages 1-22, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Giuseppe Arcangelis & Majlinda Joxhe, 2015. "How do migrants save? Evidence from the British Household Panel Survey on temporary and permanent migrants versus natives," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-23, December.
    3. Fran�ois-Charles Wolff, 2015. "Do the Return Intentions of French Migrants Affect Their Transfer Behaviour?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(10), pages 1358-1373, October.
    4. Akay, Alpaslan & Brausmann, Alexandra & Djajic, Slobodan & Kirdar, Murat Güray, 2018. "Purchasing-Power-Parity and the Saving Behavior of Temporary Migrants," IZA Discussion Papers 11679, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Jin, Zhangfeng & Zhang, Junsen, 2023. "Access to local citizenship and internal migration in a developing country: Evidence from a Hukou reform in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 181-215.
    6. Effrosyni Adamopoulou & Ezgi Kaya, 2020. "Not just a work permit: EU citizenship and the consumption behaviour of documented and undocumented immigrants," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(4), pages 1552-1598, November.
    7. Le Wen & Krishna P. Paudel & Qinying He, 2022. "Temporary Migration and Savings Rates: Evidence from China," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(6), pages 2810-2849, December.
    8. Ihle Dorothee & Siebert-Meyerhoff Andrea, 2019. "The Evolution of Immigrants’ Homeownership in Germany," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 239(2), pages 155-201, April.
    9. Akay, Alpaslan & Brausmann, Alexandra & Djajić, Slobodan & Kırdar, Murat G., 2021. "Purchasing-power-parity and the saving behavior of temporary migrants," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    10. Rebbeca Tesfai, 2016. "The Interaction between Race and Nativity on the Housing Market: Homeownership and House Value of Black Immigrants in the United States," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(4), pages 1005-1045, December.
    11. Zsoka Koczan, 2016. "Remittances during crises," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 24(3), pages 507-533, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Hildebrand, Vincent A., 2008. "The Asset Portfolios of Native-Born and Foreign-Born Households," IZA Discussion Papers 3304, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Thomas K. Bauer & Deborah A. Cobb‐Clark & Vincent A. Hildebrand & Mathias G. Sinning, 2011. "A Comparative Analysis Of The Nativity Wealth Gap," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 49(4), pages 989-1007, October.
    3. Dustmann, Christian & Glitz, Albrecht, 2011. "Migration and Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 327-439, Elsevier.
    4. Amelie F. Constant & Rowan Roberts & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2009. "Ethnic Identity and Immigrant Homeownership," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 46(9), pages 1879-1898, August.
    5. Christian Dustmann & Hyejin Ku & Tetyana Surovtseva, 2023. "Real Exchange Rates and the Earnings of Immigrants," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(657), pages 271-294.
    6. Asadul Islam & Jaai Parasnis & Dietrich Fausten, 2013. "Do Immigrants Save Less than Natives? Immigrant and Native Saving Behaviour in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 89(284), pages 52-71, March.
    7. Greenwood, Michael J. & Ward, Zachary, 2015. "Immigration quotas, World War I, and emigrant flows from the United States in the early 20th century," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 76-96.
    8. Hannah Zillessen, 2022. "Uncertainty, Citizenship & Migrant Saving Choices," Economics Series Working Papers 1008, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    9. Kirdar, Murat, 2009. "Source Country Characteristics and Immigrants’ Migration Duration and Saving Decisions," MPRA Paper 13322, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Sinning, Mathias, 2007. "Wealth and Asset Holdings of Immigrants in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 3089, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Katarzyna Budnik, 2011. "Temporary migration in theories of international mobility of labour," Bank i Kredyt, Narodowy Bank Polski, vol. 42(6), pages 7-48.
    12. Christian Dustmann & Joseph-Simon Görlach, 2016. "The Economics of Temporary Migrations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(1), pages 98-136, March.
    13. Giuseppe Arcangelis & Majlinda Joxhe, 2015. "How do migrants save? Evidence from the British Household Panel Survey on temporary and permanent migrants versus natives," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-23, December.
    14. Mathias Sinning, 2010. "Homeownership and Economic Performance of Immigrants in Germany," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(2), pages 387-409, February.
    15. Ihle Dorothee & Siebert-Meyerhoff Andrea, 2019. "The Evolution of Immigrants’ Homeownership in Germany," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 239(2), pages 155-201, April.
    16. Graziella Bertocchi & Marianna Brunetti & Anzelika Zaiceva, 2023. "The Financial Decisions of Immigrant and Native Households: Evidence from Italy," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 9(1), pages 117-174, March.
    17. Dustmann, Christian & Görlach, Joseph-Simon, 2016. "Estimating immigrant earnings profiles when migrations are temporary," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-8.
    18. Thomas Bauer & Mathias Sinning, 2011. "The savings behavior of temporary and permanent migrants in Germany," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 421-449, April.
    19. Bernt Bratsberg & Giovanni Facchini & Tommaso Frattini & Anna Cecilia Rosso, 2023. "Are political and economic integration intertwined?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(360), pages 1265-1306, October.
    20. Matti Sarvimäki, 2011. "Assimilation to a Welfare State: Labor Market Performance and Use of Social Benefits by Immigrants to Finland," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 113(3), pages 665-688, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    international migration; wealth accumulation; housing demand;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5498. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.