Self-Selection and Interprovincial Migration in Canada

Robinson, Chris; Tomes, Nigel

doi:10.2307/134762

Cited by 130 publications

(71 citation statements)

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“…Simple comparisons of movers and stayers are therefore likely to be misleading, as differences in outcomes may just reflect unobserved differences in ability, skills, and motivation, rather than the act of moving itself. Recognizing this difficulty, economists often use statistical corrections for non-random selection when modelling outcomes for migrants (Robinson and Tomes, 1982). However, there is some doubt about the assumptions behind these statistical remedies for selectivity in non-experimental data (Deaton, 1997), especially when the odds of migrating are very low (Hartog and Winkelmann, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Important is Selection? Experimental VS. Non-Experimental Measures of the Income Gains from Migration

McKenzie¹,

Gibson

Stillman

2010

Journal of the European Economic Association

322

121

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Measuring the gain in income from migration is complicated by non-random selection of migrants from the general population, making it hard to obtain an appropriate comparison group of non-migrants. This paper uses a migrant lottery to overcome this problem, providing an experimental measure of the income gains from migration. New Zealand allows a quota of Tongans to immigrate each year with a lottery used to choose amongst the excess number of applicants. A unique survey conducted by the authors in these two countries allows experimental estimates of the income gains from migration to be obtained by comparing the incomes of migrants to those who applied to migrate, but whose names were not drawn in the lottery, after allowing for the effect of non-compliance among some of those whose names were drawn. We also conducted a survey of individuals who did not apply for the lottery. Comparing this non-applicant group to the migrants enables assessment of the degree to which nonexperimental methods can provide an unbiased estimate of the income gains from migration. We find evidence of migrants being positively selected in terms of both observed and unobserved skills. As a result, non-experimental methods are found to overstate the gains from migration, by 9 to 82 percent. A good instrumental variable works best, while difference-in-differences and bias-adjusted propensity-score matching also perform comparatively well.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Important is Selection? Experimental VS. Non-Experimental Measures of the Income Gains from Migration

McKenzie¹,

Gibson

Stillman

2010

Journal of the European Economic Association

322

121

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“…The development of econometric techniques to account for selection bias (Hecki&n, 1979) encouraged a number of applications of this methodolo~to the analysis of migrant esmings. Studies by Nakosteen znd Zirmner (1980), Hunt and Kau (1985), and Robinson and Tomes (1982) …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-selection and internal migration in the United States

Borjas

Bronars

Trejo

1992

Journal of Urban Economics

385

263

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The Naiiond Lnngil>dind S.wcys (NLs) program supporls m:my sludic$ designed 10 increase "ndcrwandimg of tic labxm market and rncih.ds of dtiru colkxdon The Oi.s.curxion Papers scriw inco~raks some of tie research coming OU1of [he program.Many of the papers in his series have bum dclivcrcd m find mporu+ uxnmissioncd as part of an cxuanmral grant program, under which grams arc aw.wdcd lhrough a competitive process. The series is inmndcd 10 circula!c fit findings 10 inlcrcsmd readers wilhm and oulside the Bureau of L&or Smlislics.Persons inmremd in oblti~ing a copy of any Djscusxion Paper, uthcr NLS rcpor%. or general information about dm NLS progmn and surveys should CUIIIJCIhc BurcmI of Labor Statistics, Office of Eco"omi. Research. W ashingmn. DC 20212-OW1 (202-606-7405),Material in rhis publication is in the public domain and, wi[h appmprialc crcdil. may be reproduced witiout permirsfonOpinions and conclusions expressed in his doc.mcnl arc lhosc of dw audIor(s) and do not necessarily reprcsem an official positim of Lhc S3urcau of IAur SI&dcs or tie U.S. Depaxunenl of Labor. NLS Discussion Papers SeIf-Selection and Internal Migration in the United StatesGeorge J. Borjas University of California at San Diego, and UniconStephen G. Bronars University of Texas, and UniconStephen J. Trejo University of California at Santa Barbara, and Unicon March 1990T&s final paper wasfunded by tfre U.S.Department ofLabor, BureauofLaborStatistics undercontract number J-9-J-7-0393. Opinions stated inthkpa~r do notnece~ariIy represent theofficial position orpolicy ofrhe . U.S.IkpamnentofLabor. SELF-SELBCTION AND INTE8NAL MIGRATION IN THE uNITED STATESGeorge~. Borjas, Stephen G. Bronars, and Stephen J. Tr&jo Executive summarvThe population of the United States is highly mobile. Since the 1960s, aPPrOxi=tely three percent of the population moves across state lines in any given yea:, and 10 percent of the population moves across state lines in a five-year period. In view of-the falling fertility rates of American women, this extensive mobility implies that migration has become an increasingly important source of demographic change in the various regions . .and a msjor determinant of concurrent changes in regional economic growth.Internal migration rates are especially high among the young. ,, In the . National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, over half of the sample are currently (i.e., in 1986) residing in a state other than their state of birth, and about 40 percent are living in a different state than they were at age 14" (see Table 1). The data also indicate that approximately 8 percent of white young men and 6 percent of black and Hispanic young men move across state boundaries in any given year. Our study_presents a theoretical and empirical=analysis of the internal migration of young workers in the United States.Guided by income-maximizing models, previous research has focused on 'explaining" the size and direction of migration flows across areas.Generally, these studies conclude that persons migrate from low-income regions to high-...

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“…The sources for this and for the next regional information are always from ISTAT. 2 Robinson and Tomes (1982) employ marital status and family size as identifying variables. Our migration model does not comprise these variables as we do not know whether an individual got married and/or had a child before or after migrating.…”

Section: The Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

The internal relocation premium: are migrants positively or negatively selected? Evidence from Italy

Cutillo

Ceccarelli

2012

Journal of Applied Statistics

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Abstract• : This paper analyzes the wage returns from internal migration for recent graduates inItaly. We employ a switching regression model that accounts for the endogeneity of the individual's choice to relocate to get a job after graduation: the omission of this selection decision can lead to biased estimates, as there is potential correlation between earnings and unobserved traits exerting an influence on the decision to migrate. The empirical results sustain the appropriateness of the estimation technique and show that there is a significant pay gap between migrants and nonmigrants; migrants seem to be positively selected and the migration premium is downward biased through OLS estimates. The endogeneity of migration shows up both as a negative intercept effect and as a positive slope effect, the second being larger then the first: bad knowledge of the local labor market and financial constraints lead migrants to accept a low basic wage but, due to relevant returns to their characteristics, they finally obtain an higher wage then the others.

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Self-Selection and Interprovincial Migration in Canada

Cited by 130 publications

References 0 publications

How Important is Selection? Experimental VS. Non-Experimental Measures of the Income Gains from Migration

How Important is Selection? Experimental VS. Non-Experimental Measures of the Income Gains from Migration

Self-selection and internal migration in the United States

The internal relocation premium: are migrants positively or negatively selected? Evidence from Italy

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