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Sylvie Démurger

GATE—Lyon-Saint-Etienne and CNRS, France, and IZA, Germany

I’m happy to contribute to IZA World of Labor, a unique project that bridges the gap between academics and practitioners. By presenting and explaining cutting-edge research results on a wide range of topical labor issues, it provides an invaluable resource to both policymakers and researchers

IZA World of Labor role

Author

Current position

Research Professor, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)

Research interest

Development economics, labor economics, migration and inequalities, China economy

Website

https://sites.google.com/view/sylviedemurger/home

Past positions

Researcher at the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC), Hong Kong (2009–2011); Honorary Associate Professor at the Hong Kong Institute of Economics and Business Strategy, The University of Hong Kong (2003–2006)

Qualifications

PhD, University of Paris 1, 1997

Selected publications

  • “Migration externalities in Chinese cities.” European Economic Review 76 (2015): 152–167 (with P.-P. Combes and S. Li).

  • “Migration, remittances and rural employment patterns: Evidence from China.” Research in Labor Economics 37 (2013): 31–63 (with S. Li).

  • “Payments for ecological restoration and rural labor migration in China: The Sloping Land Conversion Program in Ningxia.” IZA Journal of Migration 1:10 (2012) (with H. Wan).

  • “Return migrants: The rise of new entrepreneurs in rural China.” World Development 39:10 (2011): 1847–1861 (with H. Xu).

  • “Migrants as second-class workers in urban China? A decomposition analysis.” Journal of Comparative Economics 37:4 (2009): 610–628 (with M. Gurgand, S. Li, and X. Yue).

article(s)

  • Migration and families left behind

    Families that stay behind when a member migrates do not clearly benefit

    Sylvie Démurger, April 2015
    About a billion people worldwide live and work outside their country of birth or outside their region of birth within their own country. Labor migration is conventionally viewed as economically benefiting the family members who are left behind through remittances. However, splitting up families in this way may also have multiple adverse effects on education, health, labor supply response, and social status for family members who do not migrate. Identifying the causal impact of migration on those who are left behind remains a challenging empirical question with inconclusive evidence.
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