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Are migrants more skilled than non-migrants? Repeat, return, and same-employer migrants

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  • Jennifer Hunt

Abstract

I examine the determinants of inter-state migration of adults within western Germany, using the German Socio-Economic Panel from 1984-2000. Migrants who do not change employers represent one-fifth of all migrants and have higher education and pre-move wages than non-migrants. Skilled workers thus have a low-cost migration avenue that has not been considered in the previous literature. Other migrants are heterogeneous and not unambiguously more skilled than non-migrants. I confirm that long-distance migrants are more skilled than short-distance migrants, as predicted by theory, and I show that return migrants are a mix of successes and failures. Most repeat migration is return migration.

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  • Jennifer Hunt, 2004. "Are migrants more skilled than non-migrants? Repeat, return, and same-employer migrants," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 37(4), pages 830-849, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:cje:issued:v:37:y:2004:i:4:p:830-849
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    JEL classification:

    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers

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