Foundations Of Migration Economics

This book presents a series of research articles written over the past four decades by leading economists George J. Borjas and Barry R. Chiswick. Borjas and Chiswick are leading experts on the adjustment of immigrants in their destination country and their impact on the economy. Although they worked separately throughout their careers, and did not always agree, their intellectual interaction has greatly increased understanding of the economic consequences of international migration and immigration policy across developed immigrant receiving countries. This volume brings together their contributions for the first time to demonstrate how public policy issues on immigration have evolved over time. An in-depth analysis of the key issues relating to international migration Foundations of Migration Economics explores the assimilation of immigrants, focusing on the earning changes of immigrants with a longer duration in the host economy; how immigrant networks and ethnic enclaves influence the labor market and linguistic adjustment of immigrants; determinants of language proficiency and to what extent pre-migration skills are effectively employed by the destination; and the effect of immigration on the earnings of earlier waves of immigrants and native-born workers.

'This is an extremely impressive volume which guides readers into thinking about migration in new ways. In its various chapters, international experts examine contemporary migration issues through a multitude of lenses ranging from child labor, human trafficking and jobs to the political economy of migration and refugees. the result is a fascinating assessment of the role of migration in driving population change in the modern age. This will surely serve as a reference volume for those interested in migration for years to come.' - Deborah Cobb-Clark, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, Australia

This is the fourth volume in a series of books published for the Egon-Sohmen-Foundation. Like its predecessors, it contains the papers discussed at a symposium. This symposium was held in Vancouver, Canada, thanks to the organizational support of Herbert Grubel, who also gave advice on finding and selecting competent participants. The format was the same as for the pre vious conferences that had taken place in Europe-at Laxenburg/ Austria ("Towards a Market Economy in Central and Eastern Europe"), Tegernsee/Bavaria ("Money, Trade, and Competition"), and Linz/ Austria, Egon Sohmen's birthplace ("Economic Pro Concems")-and that led to similar gress and Environmental conference volumes published by the Springer-Verlag. The topic "Economic Aspects ofInternational Migration" was chosen because we thought that migration from East to West would soon become an issue in Europe, that its implications should be discussed in a sober manner publicly as well as among experts, and that a conference volume on its economic implica tions and on the well-researched experience of immigration coun tries like the U.S.A. and Canada would be the best contribution the Egon-Sohmen-Foundation could make in this field. It is also remarkable in this context that Egon Sohmen was a migrant of sorts, just as some of those who shared responsibility for this conference. The late Egon Sohmen, in whose memory his brother Helmut established the foundation, was born in Austria (in 1930), received his education in Germany (University ofTiibingen) and the U.S.A.

This is the fourth volume in a series of books published for the Egon-Sohmen-Foundation. Like its predecessors, it contains the papers discussed at a symposium. This symposium was held in Vancouver, Canada, thanks to the organizational support of Herbert Grubel, who also gave advice on finding and selecting competent participants. The format was the same as for the pre vious conferences that had taken place in Europe-at Laxenburg/ Austria ("Towards a Market Economy in Central and Eastern Europe"), Tegernsee/Bavaria ("Money, Trade, and Competition"), and Linz/ Austria, Egon Sohmen's birthplace ("Economic Pro Concems")-and that led to similar gress and Environmental conference volumes published by the Springer-Verlag. The topic "Economic Aspects ofInternational Migration" was chosen because we thought that migration from East to West would soon become an issue in Europe, that its implications should be discussed in a sober manner publicly as well as among experts, and that a conference volume on its economic implica tions and on the well-researched experience of immigration coun tries like the U.S.A. and Canada would be the best contribution the Egon-Sohmen-Foundation could make in this field. It is also remarkable in this context that Egon Sohmen was a migrant of sorts, just as some of those who shared responsibility for this conference. The late Egon Sohmen, in whose memory his brother Helmut established the foundation, was born in Austria (in 1930), received his education in Germany (University ofTiibingen) and the U.S.A.

The Economics of International Migration is a collection of the fundamental articles written by Giovanni Peri on the economic determinants and consequences of international migration. These papers have provided the theoretical framework and empirical analysis for a rethinking of the economics of migration, going beyond the Canonical model of labor demand and supply used until the 1990s. Beginning with a simple model that recognizes the differences between immigrants and natives as workers, the articles develop the analysis of complementarity, specialization and productivity effect of immigrants in developed economies. The book then presents a series of papers analyzing and testing the economic motivation for international migration. Finally, the focus is shifted to the effect of immigration policies and their consequences on immigration and the economy.

It is the main purpose of the book to give a logically consistent foundation of migration decision making under incomplete information in a unified framework. Decision rules for migration are derived from a general model of Stochastic Dynamic Programming and the properties of temporary migration equilibria are discussed as well. Finally, some hints are given for esti- mating the theoretical models which are elaborated in the book. Many results concerning the properties of optimal migration policies and of temporary migration equilibria are new. For example, it is demonstrated that less information about a country might it make more attractive for immigration, and conditions are analyzed that imply the existence of a significant stream of migrants even between identical countries in a temporary equilibrium state. The book is written for the mathematically oriented reader in economics, operations research or econometrics who is interested in application of Stochastic Dynamic Programming to an important field of research in population economics.

Examines economic and demographic fundamentals that drove the European mass emigration in the half-century before 1914, US immigration over the last three decades, and migration from and within Africa.