The savings behavior of temporary and permanent migrants in Germany

This paper examines the relative savings position of migrant households in West Germany paying particular attention to differences between temporary and permanent migrants. Our findings reveal significant differences in the savings rates between German natives and immigrants. If remittances are treated as savings, however, migrants who intend to return to their home country save significantly more than comparable natives. The results of a decomposition analysis indicate that slightly more than half of the differences in the savings rate between Germans and permanent migrants and almost 70% between temporary and permanent migrants can be attributed to differences in observable characteristics.     

The destination decision of political migrants

This paper deals with the destination decision of political migrants who, in spite of having strong cultural, ideological and religious ties to a particular potential destination, choose to emigrate elsewhere. The model presented characterizes the migrants, who have a choice of two possible destinations, by two properties, skill level and financial resources, and identifies those that move to each destination. The paper examines various immigration-encouraging policies and shows that although all of them will increase immigration, in some cases the economic quality of the new immigrants will rise and in some it will fall. This paper includes general evidence on the present immigration to Israel and some suggestions for empirical tests.Supported by the Schnitzer Foundation for Research on the Israeli Society and Economy.We would like to thank two anonymous referees for their valuable comments which simplified the presentation.     

Spousal Mobility and Earnings

An important finding in the literature on migration has been that the earnings of married women typically decrease with a move, while the earnings of married men often increase with a move, suggesting that married women are more likely to act as the “trailing spouse.” This article considers a related but largely unexplored question: what is the effect of having an occupation that is associated with frequent migration on the migration decisions of a household and on the earnings of the spouse? Further, how do these effects differ between men and women? The Public Use Microdata Sample from the 2000 U.S. decennial census is used to calculate migration rates by occupation and education. The analysis estimates the effects of these occupational mobility measures on the migration of couples and the earnings of married individuals. I find that migration rates in both the husband’s and wife’s occupations affect the household migration decision, but mobility in the husband’s occupation matters considerably more. For couples in which the husband has a college degree (regardless of the wife’s educational level), a husband’s mobility has a large, significant negative effect on his wife’s earnings, whereas a wife’s mobility has no effect on her husband’s earnings. This negative effect does not exist for college-educated wives married to non-college-educated husbands.In the substantial literature on the relationship between migration and earnings, an important finding has been that the earnings of married women typically decrease with a move, while the earnings of married men often increase with a move. This is consistent with the notion that married women are more likely to act as the “trailing spouse” or to be a “tied mover.” This article considers a related but largely unexplored question: what is the effect of having an occupation that is associated with frequent migration on the migration decisions of a household as well as on the earnings of the spouse? And how do these effects differ between men and women?There are three reasons to move beyond the previous analysis of household moves to studying the effect of occupational mobility on migration and earnings. First, the analysis of changes in employment and earnings of movers is only part of a broader discovery concerning the extent to which the earnings of husbands and wives are affected by the ability to move to or stay in optimal locations. Second, the existing literature relies on the comparison of movers to nonmovers. Even longitudinal comparisons will not completely eliminate the bias in this comparison because movers likely differ in their earnings growth, not just the level of premigration earnings. Third, the methods used in the literature often do not adequately adjust for occupational differences between men and women, so it is difficult to know whether the current findings in the literature are the result of differences in jobs held by men and women, or rather are the result of differences in influence on location decisions. The question pursued in this article is, controlling for an individual’s own occupation and the earnings potential in that occupation, how does the migration rate in a spouse’s occupation affect one’s own labor market outcomes?This article uses the Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) from the 2000 U.S. decennial census to calculate mobility measures by occupation and education class. Mobility is measured by the fraction of workers who, in the past five years, have either (a) changed metropolitan area or (b) if in a nonmetropolitan area, changed Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA).¹ Using the sample of white, non-Hispanic married couples between the ages of 25 and 55 in the 2000 census, I perform migration and earnings analyses separately for four groups of couples: both have college degrees (“power couples”), only the husband has a college degree, only the wife has a college degree; and neither has a college degree.Results indicate that the mobility rates in both the husband’s and wife’s occupation affect the household migration decision, but mobility in the husband’s occupation matters considerably more. Comparison analysis for never-married individuals indicates that among individuals with college degrees, never-married men and women are equally responsive to occupation mobility in their migration behavior.The earnings analysis uses occupation fixed-effects and average wage in occupation-education class to control for substantial heterogeneity in earnings potential. For couples in which the husband has a college degree, the wife’s mobility has no effect on the husband’s earnings, regardless of the wife’s education. However, the husband’s mobility has a large, significant negative effect on the wife’s earnings. This negative effect does not exist for couples in which only the wife has a college degree.     

Educational institutions and the integration of migrants

In this paper, I study educational integration of students with migration background using data from five international student assessment studies. First, Blinder–Oaxaca decompositions are used to allow for a comparison of integration of migrant students across countries and time. In a second step, integration is related to institutional characteristics of the schooling system. Pooled, country-group and country fixed effects estimations show that time in school and early education are positively related to the integration of students with migration background. Furthermore, in the OECD countries, educational integration in science is positively related to external student assessment policies.     

City-suburban destination choices among migrants to metropolitan areas

An analysis of destination choices among metropolitan bound migrants in an already highly urban society is a means toward gauging trends in the urbanization process. The results of this paper indicated that destination choices were strongly influenced by SMSA size, with larger SMSAs and particularly their suburban rings attractive to migrants. This pattern suggested the further growth of the larger SMSAs, to the detriment of those smaller in size. In addition, the varied status of migrants entering the ring pointed toward its increased heterogeneity. Yet, among small SMSAs, the central city received more and higher-status migrants than the ring. Here, destination choice was also linked to similarity to the migrant's past residence. Regional differences emerged, and a closer examination of small and very large SMSAs suggested that destination choices were influenced by previous patterns of urban growth.     

Ethnic Enclaves and the Earnings of Immigrants

A large literature in sociology concerns the implications of immigrants’ participation in ethnic enclaves for their economic and social well-being. The “enclave thesis” speculates that immigrants benefit from working in ethnic enclaves. Previous research concerning the effects of enclave participation on immigrants’ economic outcomes has come to mixed conclusions as to whether enclave effects are positive or negative. In this article, we seek to extend and improve upon past work by formulating testable hypotheses based on the enclave thesis and testing them with data from the 2003 New Immigrant Survey (NIS), employing both residence-based and workplace-based measures of the ethnic enclave. We compare the economic outcomes of immigrants working in ethnic enclaves with those of immigrants working in the mainstream economy. Our research yields minimal support for the enclave thesis. Our results further indicate that for some immigrant groups, ethnic enclave participation actually has a negative effect on economic outcomes.     

职位性别隔离与收入分层

本文旨在从职位隔离的角度考察性别不平等问题,并为性别收入分层提供新的解释.利用1978年-1988年的企业调查数据发现,由于存在纵向的职位性别隔离,使得同工同酬和男女收入差距这对看似矛盾的命题可以并行不悖.而来自2003、2006和2008年全国综合社会调查数据的证据表明,近十年来职位隔离对男女收入差距的作用上升,超过三分之一的性别收入差距是由于女性集中于职位“金字塔”结构的底端.因此,缩小男女收入差距,必须促进女性职业地位的上升.     

Earnings mobility among Italian low-paid workers

This paper uses Italian panel data to analyse low pay transitions since the early 1990s. Results indicate that having more human capital reduces the probability of falling into low pay, but there is little impact on raising exit rates from low pay. Human capital effects are found to be larger for women than for men. There is considerable state dependence: the experience of low pay raises the probability of subsequent low pay episodes. Also, there is substantial unobserved heterogeneity associated with factors such as initial conditions, mobility out of the earnings distribution and educational attainment.

Speaking fluency,writing fluency and earnings of migrants

This paper analyzes the determinants of language abilities of migrant workers and the impact of language proficiency on their earnings position. The analysis is based on data for West Germany. The first part presents an ordered probit analysis of the determinants of German speaking and writing fluency for both male and female migrants. The data allow not only to consider personal characteristics of the migrant as explanatory variables, but to analyze additionally the effect of the family context and of illiteracy on the migrant's German language fluency. In the second part, the effect of language on the migrant's earnings position is analyzed. It is shown that language abilities, and especially writing proficiency, considerably improve the earnings position of migrants.I would like to thank John Micklewright, Jörn-Steffen Pischke, Christoph M. Schmidt and two referees of this journal for useful comments and suggestions. All remaining errors, of course, are mine.     

Great Earnings For Rural Migrant Labourers

Therewereatleast34millionruralmigrantlabourerswhowenttocitiesabovethecounty-leveltoworkformorethanhalfayearin1997.Theyearned200billionyuan(thecurrentexchangerateisoneUSdollarto8.27yuan)withanpercapitaincomeofover5,600yuan,accordingtoarecentsurveyconductedbytheStateStatisticalBureau.Great Earnings For Rural Migrant Labourers…     

Predictors of satisfaction with life among second generation migrants

As a part of a comprehensive study of the psychological acculturation of Portuguese youth born in France, this paper examines the relationship between satisfaction with life and some psychosocial variables. The sample consisted of 519 Portuguese youth resident in Paris (47% were male and 53% female). The following instruments were administered to all subjects: the Satisfaction With Life Scale, the Acculturative Attitudes Scales, the Social Anxiety Scale, two brief measures of (a) loneliness and (b) locus of control as well as a background inventory. As expected no gender differences were found, but there were significant effects on satisfaction with life related to religion, participation in an association, number of Portuguese friends and ethnic identity. Expressed satisfaction with life showed significant negative correlations with perceived difficulties of adaptation, marginalization, social anxiety, and loneliness; and positive correlations with integration and locus of control. Multiple regression analysis used to determine the significant predictor variables of satisfaction with life indicated that the strongest predictors were loneliness and perceived state of health.     

The use of the multiplicity survey to identify migrants

New approaches must be developed and tested to meet the needs for current data on population movement. One such approach is the survey with multiplicity (social networks). It allows respondents to report events (in this case, migration) that occurred to specified relatives living elsewhere. In order to test the value of the approach on a limited, exploratory basis, a two-stage research design was employed. A sample of persons resident in Cranston; Rhode Island who had changed address in the three years preceding the survey, was first identified and information was gathered in Round I on their mobility and on their relatives living in the State. In tum, these relatives (Round II) were asked about the mobility of their parents, siblings, and children. (The responses from Round II should have included the migrants in Round I.) Evaluation of the accuracy of Round II responses in comparison to those obtained in Round I was undertaken in terms of kin relationships, recency of move, and type of move. The results indicate that respondents had a low awareness of their relatives’ movements, that moves of females were more likely to be reported than those of males, that recent moves were more frequently cited, and that moves between communities were more likely to be reported than intracity mobility.     

Circular, invisible, and ambiguous migrants: components of difference in estimates of the number of unauthorized Mexican migrants in the United States

Based on an equation that can be used with available data and that provides a basis for facilitating decomposition analyses, this research estimates that about 2.54 million total (as opposed to enumerated) unauthorized Mexicans resided in the United States in 1996. Comparing this figure with an estimate of about 2.70 million released by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) during the 1990s, we find that the two estimates involve different assumptions about circular, invisible, and ambiguous migrants. Such differences not only can have important policy implications; they can also be sizable and can operate in opposite directions, as illustrated by findings from a components-of-difference analysis. The results are also extrapolated to 2000, and implications for 2000 census counts are discussed.     

On place utility and the normative allocation of intra-urban migrants

This paper arises out of the fact that place utility, a basic factor in behavioral conceptualizations of migration processes, has not been specified in operational terms. This is done here through a model that assigns intraurban migrants to destination areal units within the city, using a normative linear programming framework based on behavioral considerations. Measures of place utilities for each areal unit and of comparative place utilities for each pair-wise permutation of areal units are provided by the shadow prices of the dual of the linear programming model. The primal of the model allocates migrants so as to maximize the household’s gain from migration. This is measured by the increase in its realized aspirations with respect to a residence site, tempered by the search effort involved in acquiring the site. Implementation of the model utilizes both questionnaire and published data from Cedar Rapids, Iowa for the year 1966 to 1967. Conformity between predictions of the model and real-world characteristics is such that it is concluded that the basic form of the model is sound. It is also concluded that the posited relationships between place utility and behavior in searching for and selecting a new residential site are reasonable and can lead to valuable insights into place utility and its functioning in the intra-urban system. Due to some misallocation of migrant flows, however, we further conclude that the model should be revised into a recursive format for future use.     

Enclaves, language, and the location choice of migrants

Empirical studies in the migration literature have shown that enclaves (networks) negatively affect the language proficiency of migrants. Most of these studies do not address the choice of location as a function of language skills. Using data on Mexican migration to the US, we show that migrants choose smaller networks as their English language proficiency improves.

Factors affecting fertility of natives and migrants in urban Brazil

Abstract Modernization is expected to change the patterns of population growth of developing countries. The primary reason explaining the fast rate of population growth of these nations has been established as that of the reductions of mortality! which marks the first stage of demographic transition. The second stage in this process is the reduction in fertility which counterbalances lowered mortality and therefore reduces the rate of population growth. This latter phase has been achieved in modern industrial societies.     

Self-management of gestational diabetes among Chinese migrants: A qualitative study

Background

Gestational diabetes mellitus is one of the most common complications of pregnancy. Women with Gestational diabetes are at increased risk of serious health outcomes, such as pre-eclampsia, obstructed labor, and the development of Type 2 diabetes later in life. Chinese migrants, the third largest cultural group in Australia, are more likely to develop Gestational diabetes than Australian-born women. However, to date, Gestational diabetes self-management has not been investigated in this population.

返乡劳动力的再迁移意愿和再迁移方向选择

部分流动人口回流迁移后仍会再次外出和继续迁移。研究发现,约三分之一的返乡劳动力具有再迁移意愿,县城及中心镇是他们再迁移的主要方向,呈现出就近城镇化的特点。就业机会与预期收入的驱动、家庭整体利益的权衡、社会网络的助推既决定他们的再迁移意愿,也决定再迁移方向的选择。(1)返乡劳动力的收入水平、就业稳定性和劳动技能培训经历显著影响其再迁移意愿,劳动技能培训提高了返乡劳动力选择县内再迁移的可能性。(2)家庭照护(居住)安排、土地耕种安排与子女教育安排也会影响其再迁移意愿,土地流转会增强返乡劳动力向省外的再迁移意愿,子女教育期望与入学机会是返乡劳动力向省内县外再迁移的重要因素。(3)返乡劳动力再迁移主要受其亲属网络的影响,而非地缘网络的影响。充分发挥返乡劳动力作用,有序引导其再次流动,对乡村振兴和中西部地区城镇化发展具有重要意义。     

Earnings assimilation of immigrants in Norway – A reappraisal

The relative earnings growth for immigrants in Norway is computed. Unlike Hayfron (1998, this journal) we define immigrants by country of origin rather than citizenship and perform separate studies of immigrants from inside and outside the OECD region. Replicating Hayfron op.cit. we find that the earnings assimilation is considerably weaker. Further, we find that the earnings of OECD immigrants are comparable to those of natives, while Non-OECD immigrants earn considerably less than natives at the time of entry, but that their relative earnings improve gradually over time. Earnings of different immigrant cohorts converged from 1980 to 1990, indicating a non-linear rate of assimilation. Received: 7 April 2000/Accepted: 4 January 2001     

Labor Market Segmentation and the Earnings of German Guestworkers

In this paper we study the occupational progress and earnings attainment of immigrants in Germany and compare them to native Germans. Our analysis is guided by the human capital, segmented labor market, and discrimination theories. To assess the separate effects of occupational segmentation and discrimination in the allocation of occupations and wages, we conceptualize the process of earnings attainment as occurring in three stages: initial occupational achievement, final occupational achievement after the accumulation of experience, and, contingent on the former, final earnings attainment. Our analysis of data from the German Socioeconomic Panel suggests a high degree of initial occupational segmentation, with mmigrants being less able to translate their human capital into a good first job than natives. We also find that immigrants experienced significant discrimination in the process of occupational attainment, yielding little job mobility over time, and a widening of the status gap between Germans and guestworkers. Holding occupational status constant, however, we find less evidence of direct discrimination in the process of earnings attainment. Although immigrants achieved lower rates of return to technical or vocational training than natives, their wage returns to experience, hours worked, years since migration, and academic high school were greater, yielding significant earnings mobility over time.