IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/glodps/261.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Labor Market and Institutional Drivers of Youth Irregular Migration: Evidence from the MENA Region

Author

Listed:
  • Dibeh, Ghassan
  • Fakih, Ali
  • Marrouch, Walid

Abstract

Irregular migration became an alarming issue over the last decade for both developed and developing countries. A prevailing assumption in migration policy is that labor market and institutional characteristics play a crucial role in pushing people to leave their home countries in search for better life prospects. This paper examines this hypothesis using a unique dataset covering young people aged 15 to 29 from five major MENA countries from the year 2016. Using a probit model, the paper finds that labor market drivers (unemployment, job sector, social security, contract type) are of great importance for the decision to migrate irregularly amongst the youth in the MENA region and that the quality of institutions matters. In addition, the lack of wealth and economic opportunities enhance their willingness to engage in irregular migration.

Suggested Citation

  • Dibeh, Ghassan & Fakih, Ali & Marrouch, Walid, 2018. "Labor Market and Institutional Drivers of Youth Irregular Migration: Evidence from the MENA Region," GLO Discussion Paper Series 261, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:261
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/183208/1/GLO-DP-0261.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Linguère Mbaye, 2014. "“Barcelona or die”: understanding illegal migration from Senegal," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-19, December.
    2. Christian Dustmann & Francesco Fasani & Tommaso Frattini & Luigi Minale & Uta Schönberg, 2017. "On the economics and politics of refugee migration," Economic Policy, CEPR;CES;MSH, vol. 32(91), pages 497-550.
    3. Rachel Sabates-Wheeler & Ricardo Sabates & Adriana Castaldo, 2008. "Tackling Poverty-migration Linkages: Evidence from Ghana and Egypt," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 87(2), pages 307-328, June.
    4. Hazari, Bharat R. & Sgro, Pasquale M., 2000. "Wage indexation, migration, and unemployment," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 257-265, July.
    5. Chiswick, Barry R, 1978. "The Effect of Americanization on the Earnings of Foreign-born Men," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(5), pages 897-921, October.
    6. Peter Huber & Klaus Nowotny, 2016. "The Impact Of Relative Deprivation On Return Intentions Among Potential Migrants And Commuters," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 471-493, June.
    7. Jung, Juergen & Tran, Chung, 2012. "The extension of social security coverage in developing countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 439-458.
    8. Antonio Caparrós Ruiz, 2014. "Wage inequality of immigrants by type of contract in Spain," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 35(6), pages 817-833, August.
    9. Federica D’Isanto & Panagiotis Fouskas & Melania Verde, 2016. "Determinants of Well-being Among Legal and Illegal Immigrants: Evidence from South Italy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 126(3), pages 1109-1141, April.
    10. DaVanzo, Julie, 1978. "Does Unemployment Affect Migration?-Evidence from Micro Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 60(4), pages 504-514, November.
    11. Joshua C. Hall & Robert A. Lawson, 2014. "Economic Freedom Of The World: An Accounting Of The Literature," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 32(1), pages 1-19, January.
    12. Hendrik Dalen & George Groenewold & Jeannette Schoorl, 2005. "Out of Africa: what drives the pressure to emigrate?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 18(4), pages 741-778, November.
    13. Ghassan Dibeh & Ali Fakih & Walid Marrouch, 2017. "Decision to Emigrate Amongst the Youth in Lebanon," CIRANO Working Papers 2017s-04, CIRANO.
    14. Catalina Amuedo‐Dorantes & Sara De La Rica, 2007. "Labour Market Assimilation of Recent Immigrants in Spain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(2), pages 257-284, June.
    15. Andreas Buehn & Stefan Eichler, 2013. "Determinants of Illegal Mexican Immigration into the US Southern Border States," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 39(4), pages 464-492, September.
    16. Daniel Meierrieks & Laura Renner, 2017. "Stymied ambition: does a lack of economic freedom lead to migration?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(3), pages 977-1005, July.
    17. Amany Hassan Abdel-karim, 2016. "Determinants of illegal migration from North Africa to Southern Europe," Migration Letters, Transnational Press London, UK, vol. 13(3), pages 455-467, September.
    18. Mangin, Sephorah & Zenou, Yves, 2016. "Illegal migration and policy enforcement," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 83-86.
    19. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Serrano-Padial, Ricardo, 2007. "Wage Growth Implications of Fixed-Term Employment: An Analysis by Contract Duration and Job Mobility," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 829-847, October.
    20. Chris F. Wright, 2012. "Immigration policy and market institutions in liberal market economies," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(2), pages 110-136, March.
    21. Erik Vickstrom, 2014. "Pathways into Irregular Status Among Senegalese Migrants in Europe," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 1062-1099, December.
    22. Carraro, Carlo & Soubeyran, Antoine, 2005. "Labour demand with heterogeneous workers: Migrations and unemployment," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 119-136, June.
    23. Bjarke Refslund & Annette Thörnquist, 2016. "Intra-European labour migration and low-wage competition—comparing the Danish and Swedish experiences across three sectors," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 62-78, January.
    24. Yehudith Kahn & Audrey Dumas & Yovav Eshet & Nir Billfeld, 2014. "Migration and Subjective Poverty in sending countries: An analysis of the Egyptian case," Migration Letters, Transnational Press London, UK, vol. 11(3), pages 353-367, September.
    25. Arunas Juska & Charles Woolfson, 2015. "Austerity, labour market segmentation and emigration: the case of Lithuania," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 236-253, May.
    26. Jacqueline Andall, 2007. "Industrial Districts and Migrant Labour in Italy," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(2), pages 285-308, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Ruyssen, Ilse & Salomone, Sara, 2018. "Female migration: A way out of discrimination?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 224-241.
    2. Dawson Chris & Veliziotis Michail & Hopkins Benjamin, 2014. "Assimilation of the migrant work ethic," Working Papers 20141407, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol.
    3. Daniel Meierrieks & Laura Renner, 2017. "Stymied ambition: does a lack of economic freedom lead to migration?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(3), pages 977-1005, July.
    4. Simon Winter, 2020. "“It’s the Economy, Stupid!”: On the Relative Impact of Political and Economic Determinants on Migration," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(2), pages 207-252, April.
    5. Steinar Strøm & Alessandra Venturini & Claudia Villosio, 2013. "Wage assimilation: migrants versus natives and foreign migrants versus internal migrants," RSCAS Working Papers 2013/30, European University Institute.
    6. Martin Kahanec & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2008. "Migration, the Quality of the Labour Force and Economic Inequality," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 781, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    7. Michael Hebsaker & Guido Neidhöfer & Friedhelm Pfeiffer, 2021. "Intergenerational mobility and self-selection on unobserved skills: New evidence," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 55(1), pages 1-9, December.
    8. Lee, Tae Hoon & Peri, Giovanni & Viarengo, Martina, 2020. "The Gender Aspect of Immigrants' Assimilation in Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 13922, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Vikman, Ulrika, 2013. "Paid parental leave to immigrants: An obstacle to labor market entrance?," Working Paper Series, Center for Labor Studies 2013:4, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    10. Christian Dustmann & Ian P. Preston, 2019. "Free Movement, Open Borders, and the Global Gains from Labor Mobility," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 11(1), pages 783-808, August.
    11. Cristina Fernández & Carolina Ortega, 2008. "Labor market assimilation of immigrants in Spain: employment at the expense of bad job-matches?," Spanish Economic Review, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 83-107, June.
    12. Wido Geis, 2010. "High Unemployment in Germany: Why do Foreigners Suffer Most?," ifo Working Paper Series 90, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    13. Schmid, Lena & Renner, Laura, 2020. "The Decision to Flee: Analyzing Gender-Specific Determinants of International Refugee Migration," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224596, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    14. Sholeh A. Maani & Mengyu Dai & Kerr Inkson, 2015. "Occupational Attainment and Earnings among Immigrant Groups: Evidence from New Zealand," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 18(1), pages 95-112.
    15. Izquierdo, Mario & Lacuesta, Aitor & Vegas, Raquel, 2009. "Assimilation of immigrants in Spain: A longitudinal analysis," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 669-678, December.
    16. Zaiceva, Anzelika, 2010. "East-West migration and gender: Is there a differential effect for migrant women?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 443-454, April.
    17. Kolb, Michael & Neidhöfer, Guido & Pfeiffer, Friedhelm, 2019. "Intergenerational mobility and self-selection of asylum seekers in Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 19-027, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    18. Sanromá, Esteban & Ramos, Raul & Simón, Hipólito, 2009. "Immigrant Wages in the Spanish Labour Market: Does the Origin of Human Capital Matter?," IZA Discussion Papers 4157, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Vincent Corluy & Gerlinde Verbist, 2014. "Can education bridge the gap? Education and the employment position of immigrants in Belgium," ImPRovE Working Papers 14/02, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    20. Mehmet E. Yaya, 2016. "Within inequality characteristics and adaptation of immigrants in the United States," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 695-714, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Irregular Migration; Youth; Labor Markets; Institutions; Arab Spring;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements

    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:zbw:glodps:261. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/glaboea.html .

    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 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.

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.