Altruism and international labour migration

This paper investigates the effect of altruism on the pattern of labour migration in a two-country overlapping generations model. We show that differences in degrees of altruism across countries lead to bilateral migration flows. Starting from the autarkic steady-state equilibrium, restrictions on labour migration are relaxed. In temporary post-migration equilibrium factor prices are equal across countries. We then characterize the unique stable steady-state equilibrium: both countries are populated and this equilibrium is not a Pareto improvement. Some individuals prefer to live in autarky, others in an integrated world economy. Received: 6 July 1998/Accepted: 11 February 1999