The Impacts of International Migration on Remaining Household Members : Omnibus Results from a Migration Lottery Program
The impacts of international migration on development in the sending countries, and especially the effects on remaining household members, are increasingly studied. However, comparisons of households in developing countries with and without migrant...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20090608100338 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4149 |
| Summary: | The impacts of international migration
on development in the sending countries, and especially the
effects on remaining household members, are increasingly
studied. However, comparisons of households in developing
countries with and without migrants are complicated by a
double-selectivity problem: households self-select into
migration, and among households involved in migration, some
send a subset of members with the rest remaining while other
households migrate en masse. The authors address these
selectivity issues using the randomization provided by an
immigration ballot under the Pacific Access Category of New
Zealand s immigration policy. They survey applicants to the
2002-05 ballots in Tonga and compare outcomes for the
remaining household members of emigrants with those for
members of similar households that were unsuccessful in the
ballots. The immigration laws determine which household
members can accompany the principal migrant, providing an
instrument to address the second selectivity issue. Using
this natural experiment, the authors examine the myriad
impacts that migration has on remaining household members,
focussing on labor supply, income, durable assets, financial
service usage, diet, and physical and mental health. The
analysis uses multiple hypothesis testing procedures to
examine which impacts are robust. The findings indicate that
the overall impact on households left behind is largely
negative. The findings also reveal evidence that both
sources of selectivity matter, leading studies that fail to
adequately address them to misrepresent the impact of migration. |
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