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The Healthy Immigrant Effect: The role of educational selectivity in the good health of migrants

Author

Listed:
  • Mathieu Ichou

    (Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED))

  • Matthew Wallace

    (Stockholms Universitet)

Abstract

Background: The Healthy Immigrant Effect (HIE) refers to the fact that recent migrants are in better health than the nonmigrant population in the host country. Central to explaining the HIE is the idea that migrants are positively selected in terms of their socioeconomic and health characteristics when compared to nonmigrants in their country of origin. However, due to a lack of reliable and comparable data, most existing studies rely on socioeconomic and health measures as collected in the host country after migration and do not actually measure selection. Objective: We directly test selection as an explanation of the HIE among migrants living in France. Methods: Using the French Trajectories and Origins (TeO) survey and Barro‒Lee dataset, we construct a direct measure of migrants’ educational selectivity. We then test its effect on health differences between migrants and nonmigrants using measures self-rated health, health limitations, and chronic illnesses, by fitting logistic regression and Karlson‒Holm‒Breen (KHB) decompositions. Results: After demonstrating that migrants in France experience an HIE, especially males, we also show that educational level as measured in the host country cannot account for the HIE. By contrast, we provide important evidence that educational selectivity constitutes a significant factor in explaining health disparities between migrant and nonmigrant populations. Contribution: Capitalizing on a novel measure of migrants' educational selectivity, we give credit to the oft-cited but rarely tested theory that the HIE is a consequence of migrants' positive selection.

Suggested Citation

  • Mathieu Ichou & Matthew Wallace, 2019. "The Healthy Immigrant Effect: The role of educational selectivity in the good health of migrants," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(4), pages 61-94.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:40:y:2019:i:4
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2019.40.4
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    Cited by:

    1. Engzell, Per & Ichou, Mathieu, 2019. "Status Loss: The Burden of Positively Selected Immigrants," SocArXiv qr5h7, Center for Open Science.
    2. Walther, Lena & Fuchs, Lukas M. & Schupp, Jürgen & Scheve, Christian von, 2020. "Living Conditions and the Mental Health and Well-being of Refugees : Evidence from a Large-Scale German Survey," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 22, pages 903-913.
    3. Grytten, Jostein & Skau, Irene & Sørensen, Rune, 2024. "Fertility and immigration: Do immigrant mothers hand down their fertility pattern to the next generation? Evidence from Norway," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    4. Sun, Nan & Yang, Fan, 2021. "Impacts of internal migration experience on health among middle-aged and older adults—Evidence from China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    5. Anna Tegunimataka, 2023. "The Health of Immigrant Youth in Denmark: Examining Immigrant Generations and Origin," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 659-694, June.
    6. Justin Vinneau Palarino, 2021. "The Immigrant Health Advantage: An Examination of African-Origin Black Immigrants in the United States," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(5), pages 895-929, October.
    7. Florian, Sandra & Ichou, Mathieu & Panico, Lidia, 2021. "Parental migrant status and health inequalities at birth: The role of immigrant educational selectivity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    8. Bayrakdar, Sait & Guveli, Ayse, 2019. "The educational consequences of migration for women and men. Migrant and Europe-born Turkish origin people compared to non-migrants in Turkey," ISER Working Paper Series 2019-08, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    9. Vaalavuo, Maria & Holster, Tuukka & Kuusinen, Heidi & Skogberg, Natalia, 2024. "Health care use as an aspect of immigrant integration? An analysis of cost convergence among new immigrants and natives in Finland," SocArXiv 5rxvy, Center for Open Science.
    10. Simon Jean-Baptiste Combes & Nathalie Simonnot & Fabienne Azzedine & Abdessamad Aznague & Pierre Chauvin, 2019. "Self-Perceived Health among Migrants Seen in Médecins du Monde Free Clinics in Europe: Impact of Length of Stay and Wealth of Country of Origin on Migrants’ Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-14, December.
    11. repec:hal:journl:hal-04775072 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Nadiya UKRAYINCHUK & Carine DRAPIER, 2021. "Exhausted migrant effect : La santé des travailleurs immigrés en France," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 53, pages 69-100.
    13. Luthra, Renee Reichl & Platt, Lucinda, 2023. "Do immigrants benefit from selection? Migrant educational selectivity and its association with social networks, skills and health," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118629, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Patrizio Frederic & Michele Lalla, 2024. "Lower-to-upper secondary school transition: a Bayesian Lasso approach in data modelling," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 3133-3154, August.
    15. Julia Callaway & Cosmo Strozza & Sven Drefahl & Eleonora Mussino & Ilya Kashnitsky, 2024. "Mortality inequalities at retirement age between migrants and non-migrants in Denmark and Sweden," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 50(18), pages 473-502.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    healthy immigrant paradox; educational attainment; France; self-rated health; chronic diseases; immigrant selectivity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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