Labor mobility

  • Language and culture as drivers of migration

    Linguistic and cultural barriers affect international migration flows

    Alicía Adserà, July 2015
    As migration flows to developed countries have increased in recent decades, so have the number of countries from which migrants arrive. Thus, it is increasingly important to consider what role differences in culture and language play in migration decisions. Recent work shows that culture and language may explain migration patterns to developed countries even better than traditional economic variables, such as income per capita and unemployment rates in destination and origin countries. Differences in culture and language may create barriers that prevent the full realization of the potential economic gains from international mobility.
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  • The impact of legalizing unauthorized immigrants Updated

    While legalization benefits most unauthorized immigrants, deciding how to regularize them is challenging

    Countries have adopted a variety of legalization programs to address unauthorized immigration. Research in the US finds improved labor market outcomes for newly authorized immigrants. Findings are more mixed for European and Latin American countries where informal labor markets play a large role and programs are often small scale. Despite unclear labor market outcomes and mixed public support, legalization will likely continue to be widely used. Comprehensive legislation can address the complex nature of legalization on immigrants and on native-born residents.
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  • Income of immigrants and their return

    Both low- and high-income immigrants stay for a relatively short time

    Govert E. Bijwaard, April 2015
    The majority of immigrants stay only temporarily in the host country. When many migrations are temporary, it is important to know who leaves and who stays, and why. The key questions for the host country are whether immigrants are net contributors to the welfare system and whether migrants assimilate quickly. The key questions for the home country are whether migrants return and who returns. The host country gains when unsuccessful migrants leave, while the home country may gain when successful migrants leave. Empirical evidence reveals that both low-income-earning and high-income-earning migrants leave the host country quite soon.
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  • Aggregate labor productivity

    Labor productivity is generally seen as bringing wealth and prosperity; but how does it vary over the business cycle?

    Michael C. Burda, April 2018
    Aggregate labor productivity is a central indicator of an economy’s economic development and a wellspring of living standards. Somewhat controversially, many macroeconomists see productivity as a primary driver of fluctuations in economic activity along the business cycle. In some countries, the cyclical behavior of labor productivity seems to have changed. In the past 20–30 years, the US has become markedly less procyclical, while the rest of the OECD has not changed or productivity has become even more procyclical. Finding a cogent and coherent explanation of these developments is challenging.
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  • Smart policy toward high-skill emigrants

    Many proposed policies on skilled migration do little to improve skill stocks or development outcomes, but promising options exist

    Michael A. Clemens, November 2015
    Immigration officials in rich countries are being asked to become overseas development officials, charged with preventing skilled workers from leaving poor countries, where their skills are needed. Some advocates urge restrictions or taxes on the emigration of doctors and engineers from developing countries. Others urge incentives to encourage skilled workers to remain or return home or policies to facilitate their interactions with home countries. Regulations often reflect compassionate and political sentiments without clear evidence that the regulations achieve the desired development goals and avoid pernicious side effects.
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  • One-company towns: Scale and consequences

    One-company towns concentrate employment but their ability to adapt to adverse events is often very limited

    Simon Commander, March 2018
    One-company towns are a relatively rare phenomenon. Mostly created in locations that are difficult to access, due to their association with industries such as mining, they have been a marked feature of the former planned economies. One-company towns typically have high concentrations of employment that normally provide much of the funding for local services. This combination has proven problematic when faced with shocks that force restructuring or even closure. Specific policies for the redeployment of labor and funding of services need to be in place instead of subsidies simply aimed at averting job losses.
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  • Firms, sorting, and the immigrant–native earnings gap

    The immigrant–native earnings gap is due in part to firm-specific factors resulting from differential sorting of workers into firms

    Benoit Dostie, January 2022
    Recent research has tried to quantify how firms contribute to the immigrant–native earnings gap. Findings from several countries show that around 20% of the gap is due to firm policies that lead to a systematic underrepresentation of immigrants at higher-paying firms. Results also show that some of the closing of the gap over time is attributable to the reallocation of immigrants toward higher-paying employers. This pattern is especially pronounced for immigrants coming from disadvantaged countries, who face several barriers at initial entry, including language difficulties and lack of recognition of their educational credentials.
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  • Do minimum wages induce immigration?

    The minimum wage affects international migration flows and the internal relocation of immigrants

    Corrado Giulietti, May 2015
    An increase in the minimum wage in immigrant destination countries raises the earnings that low-skilled migrants could expect to attain if they were to migrate. While some studies for the US indicate that a higher minimum wage induces immigration, contrasting evidence shows that immigrants are less likely to move into areas with higher or more frequent increases in the minimum wage. These different findings seem to reflect different relocation decisions by immigrants who have lived in the US for several years, who are more likely to move in response to higher minimum wages, and by new immigrants, who are less likely to move.
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  • The portability of social benefits across borders

    With rising international migration, how transferable are benefits, and how can transferability be increased?

    Robert Holzmann, October 2018
    The importance of benefit portability is increasing in line with the growing number of migrants wishing to bring acquired social rights from their host country back to their country of residence. Failing to enable such portability risks impeding international labor mobility or jeopardizing individuals’ ability to manage risk across their life cycle. Various instruments may establish portability. But which instrument works best and under what circumstances is not yet well-explored.
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