Temporary and permanent migrant selection: Theory and evidence of ability-search cost dynamics

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR single centreen
cg.contributor.crpPolicies, Institutions, and Markets
cg.coverage.countryPakistan
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2PK
cg.coverage.regionSouthern Asia
cg.coverage.regionAsia
cg.creator.identifierKatrina Kosec: 0000-0002-5126-5215
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Pakistan Strategy Support Program
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Development Strategy and Governance Division
cg.identifier.publicationRankNot ranked
cg.placeWashington, DCen
cg.reviewStatusInternal Reviewen
dc.contributor.authorChen, Joyce J.en
dc.contributor.authorKosec, Katrinaen
dc.contributor.authorMueller, Valerieen
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-01T02:51:18Zen
dc.date.available2024-08-01T02:51:18Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/150287
dc.titleTemporary and permanent migrant selection: Theory and evidence of ability-search cost dynamicsen
dcterms.abstractThe migrant selection literature concentrates primarily on spatial patterns. We integrate two workhorses of the labor literature, the Roy and search models, to illustrate the implications of migration duration for patterns of selection. Theory and empirics show that temporary migrants are intermediately selected on education, with weaker selection on cognitive ability. Longer migration episodes lead to stronger positive selection on both education and ability because the associated jobs involve finer employee-employer matching and offer greater returns to experience. Networks are more valuable for permanent migration, where search costs are higher. Labor market frictions explain observed complex network-skill interactions. When considering migrant selection, the economics literature has largely focused on patterns by area of origin. However, the duration of migration episodes–temporary versus permanent–is another important determinant of selection. We integrate two workhorses of the labor literature, the Roy model and a search model, to illustrate the implications of migration duration for patterns of self-selection. We provide theoretical and empirical evidence showing that, because short-term migration episodes have less scope for skill-based matching and greater need for screening, temporary migrants are more likely to display intermediate selection on education, with weaker selection on underlying cognitive ability. Longer term migration episodes, in contrast, allow for finer employee-employer matching and greater returns to experience, leading to stronger positive selection on both education and cognitive ability among permanent migrants. Networks are also found to be more valuable for permanent migration, where search costs tend to be higher. However, we also provide evidence of complex network-skill interactions, driven primarily by labor market frictions.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.bibliographicCitationChen, Joyce J.; Kosec, Katrina; and Mueller, Valerie. 2015. Temporary and permanent migrant selection: Theory and evidence of ability-search cost dynamics. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1496. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150287en
dcterms.extent45 pagesen
dcterms.isPartOfIFPRI Discussion Paperen
dcterms.issued2015-12-30
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.publisherInternational Food Policy Research Instituteen
dcterms.relationhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/149866en
dcterms.relationhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/150370en
dcterms.replaceshttps://ebrary.ifpri.org/digital/collection/p15738coll2/id/130081en
dcterms.subjectincomeen
dcterms.subjectlabour marketen
dcterms.subjectnetworksen
dcterms.subjectmigrationen
dcterms.subjectsearch costsen
dcterms.typeWorking Paper

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