IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp11346.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

International Import Competition and the Decision to Migrate: Evidence from Mexico

Author

Listed:
  • Majlesi, Kaveh

    (Monash University)

  • Narciso, Gaia

    (Trinity College Dublin)

Abstract

We analyze the effects of the increase in China's import competition on Mexican domestic and international migration. We exploit the variation in exposure to competition from China, following its accession to the WTO in 2001, across Mexican municipalities and estimate the effect of international competition on the individual decision to migrate. Controlling for individual and municipality features, we find that individuals living in municipalities more exposed to Chinese import competition are more likely to migrate to other municipalities within Mexico, while a negative effect is found on the decision to migrate to the US. In particular, we find that Chinese import competition reduces migrants' negative self- selection: the rising international competition lowers the likelihood of low-educated, low-income people to migrate to the US, by making them more financially constrained. We do not find any evidence that changes in demand for Mexican workers in the US drive our results.

Suggested Citation

  • Majlesi, Kaveh & Narciso, Gaia, 2018. "International Import Competition and the Decision to Migrate: Evidence from Mexico," IZA Discussion Papers 11346, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11346
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp11346.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Costa, Francisco & Garred, Jason & Pessoa, João Paulo, 2016. "Winners and losers from a commodities-for-manufactures trade boom," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 50-69.
    2. Jesúús Fernández-Huertas Moraga, 2011. "New Evidence on Emigrant Selection," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(1), pages 72-96, February.
    3. Dix Carneiro,Rafael & Kovak,Brian K., 2015. "Trade reform and regional dynamics : evidence from 25 years of Brazilian matched employer-employee data," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7205, The World Bank.
    4. Kerwin Kofi Charles & Erik Hurst & Matthew J. Notowidigdo, 2016. "The Masking of the Decline in Manufacturing Employment by the Housing Bubble," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(2), pages 179-200, Spring.
    5. Wolfgang Dauth & Sebastian Findeisen & Jens Suedekum, 2014. "The Rise Of The East And The Far East: German Labor Markets And Trade Integration," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 12(6), pages 1643-1675, December.
    6. Gallagher, Kevin P. & Moreno-Brid, Juan Carlos & Porzecanski, Roberto, 2008. "The Dynamism of Mexican Exports: Lost in (Chinese) Translation?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 1365-1380, August.
    7. Daron Acemoglu & David Autor & David Dorn & Gordon H. Hanson & Brendan Price, 2016. "Import Competition and the Great US Employment Sag of the 2000s," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(S1), pages 141-198.
    8. David H. Autor & David Dorn & Gordon H. Hanson, 2013. "The China Syndrome: Local Labor Market Effects of Import Competition in the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(6), pages 2121-2168, October.
    9. Pablo Ibarraran & Darren Lubotsky, 2007. "Mexican Immigration and Self-Selection: New Evidence from the 2000 Mexican Census," NBER Chapters, in: Mexican Immigration to the United States, pages 159-192, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Iacovone, Leonardo & Rauch, Ferdinand & Winters, L. Alan, 2013. "Trade as an engine of creative destruction: Mexican experience with Chinese competition," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 379-392.
    11. Robert C. Feenstra & Hiau Looi Kee, 2007. "Trade Liberalisation and Export Variety: A Comparison of Mexico and China," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 5-21, January.
    12. David H. Autor & David Dorn & Gordon H. Hanson & Jae Song, 2014. "Trade Adjustment: Worker-Level Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(4), pages 1799-1860.
    13. Julian di Giovanni & Andrei A. Levchenko & Jing Zhang, 2014. "The Global Welfare Impact of China: Trade Integration and Technological Change," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 153-183, July.
    14. Daniel Chiquiar & Gordon H. Hanson, 2005. "International Migration, Self-Selection, and the Distribution of Wages: Evidence from Mexico and the United States," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(2), pages 239-281, April.
    15. Robert Kaestner & Ofer Malamud, 2014. "Self-Selection and International Migration: New Evidence from Mexico," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(1), pages 78-91, March.
    16. Justin R. Pierce & Peter K. Schott, 2016. "The Surprisingly Swift Decline of US Manufacturing Employment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(7), pages 1632-1662, July.
    17. David McKenzie & Hillel Rapoport, 2010. "Self-Selection Patterns in Mexico-U.S. Migration: The Role of Migration Networks," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(4), pages 811-821, November.
    18. Utar, Hale & Ruiz, Luis B. Torres, 2013. "International competition and industrial evolution: Evidence from the impact of Chinese competition on Mexican maquiladoras," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 267-287.
    19. Andrés Rodríguez-Clare & Robert Devlin & Antoni Estevadeordal, 2006. "The Emergence of China: Opportunities and Challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 79458 edited by Andrés Rodríguez-Clare & Robert Devlin & Antoni Estevadeordal, February.
    20. Shafaeddin, S. M., 2004. "Is China's accession to WTO threatening exports of developing countries?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 109-144, January.
    21. George J. Borjas, 2021. "Self-Selection and the Earnings of Immigrants," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 4, pages 69-91, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    22. Kevin P. Gallagher & Roberto Porzecanski, 2007. "What a Difference a Few Years Makes: China and the Competitiveness of Mexican Exports," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(2), pages 219-223.
    23. Sanjaya Lall & John Weiss & Hiroshi Oikawa, 2005. "China's Competitive Threat to Latin America: An Analysis for 1990-2002," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 163-194.
    24. Majlesi, Kaveh, 2016. "Labor market opportunities and women's decision making power within households," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 34-47.
    25. Topel, Robert H, 1986. "Local Labor Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages 111-143, June.
    26. Mendez, Oscar, 2015. "The effect of Chinese import competition on Mexican local labor markets," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 364-380.
    27. Rodríguez-Clare, Andrés & Devlin, Robert & Estevadeordal, Antoni, 2006. "The Emergence of China: Opportunities and Challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 421, November.
    28. Bound, John & Holzer, Harry J, 2000. "Demand Shifts, Population Adjustments, and Labor Market Outcomes during the 1980s," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(1), pages 20-54, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rutledge, Zachariah & Mayorga, Joaquin, 2022. "Chinese Trade Competition and Mexican Farm Labor Supply," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322515, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Narciso, Gaia, 2020. "Crop prices and the individual decision to migrate," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    3. Fernández Guerrico, Sofía, 2021. "The effects of trade-induced worker displacement on health and mortality in Mexico," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    4. Gaia Narciso, 2018. "Crop prices and migration in Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-142, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Rodriguez Castelan,Carlos & Vazquez,Emmanuel Jose & Winkler-Seales,Hernan Jorge, 2020. "Tracing the Local Impacts of Exports on Poverty and Inequality in Mexico," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9459, The World Bank.
    6. Sónia Cabral & Pedro S. Martins & João Pereira dos Santos & Mariana Tavares, 2021. "Collateral Damage? Labour Market Effects of Competing with China—at Home and Abroad," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 88(350), pages 570-600, April.
    7. Gaia Narciso, 2018. "Crop prices and migration in Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series 142, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Melissa Dell & Benjamin Feigenberg & Kensuke Teshima, 2019. "The Violent Consequences of Trade-Induced Worker Displacement in Mexico," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 43-58, June.
    9. Raymond Robertson & Timothy J. Halliday & Sindhu Vasireddy, 2020. "Labour market adjustment to third‐party competition: Evidence from Mexico," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(7), pages 1977-2006, July.
    10. Mahé, Clotilde, 2020. "Publicly provided healthcare and migration," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    11. Sofía Fernández Guerrico, 2023. "Trade Shocks, Population Growth, and Migration," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/357236, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    12. Gröger, André, 2021. "Easy come, easy go? Economic shocks, labor migration and the family left behind," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    13. Gray, Rowena & Narciso, Gaia & Tortorici, Gaspare, 2019. "Globalization, agricultural markets and mass migration: Italy, 1881–1912," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    14. Narciso, Gaia, 2020. "Reprint of: Crop prices and the individual decision to migrate," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    15. Heckl, Pia, 2024. "Import Shocks and Gendered Labor Market Responses: Evidence from Mexico," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    16. Rowena Gray & Gaia Narciso & Gaspare Tortorici, 2017. "Globalization, Agricultural Markets and Mass Migration," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1713, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    17. Akira Sasahara, 2022. "The Empirics of the China Trade Shock: A Summary of Estimation Methods and A Literature Review," Keio-IES Discussion Paper Series 2022-008, Institute for Economics Studies, Keio University.
    18. Carlos Rodríguez-Castelán & Emmanuel Vazquez & Hernán Winkler, 2020. "Tracing the Local Impacts of Exports on Poverty and Inequality: The Case of Mexico," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0269, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    19. Dongmei Guo & Die Hu & Weizeng Sun, 2023. "Effect of goods market segmentation on labor mobility: Evidence from China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 423-449, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sofía Fernández Guerrico, 2023. "Trade Shocks, Population Growth, and Migration," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/357236, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    2. Fernández Guerrico, Sofía, 2021. "The effects of trade-induced worker displacement on health and mortality in Mexico," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. David H. Autor & David Dorn & Gordon H. Hanson, 2016. "The China Shock: Learning from Labor-Market Adjustment to Large Changes in Trade," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 8(1), pages 205-240, October.
    4. Larry D. Qiu & Chaoqun Zhan, 2016. "Special Section: China's Growing Trade and its Role to the World Economy," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(1), pages 45-71, February.
    5. Sónia Cabral & Pedro S. Martins & João Pereira dos Santos & Mariana Tavares, 2021. "Collateral Damage? Labour Market Effects of Competing with China—at Home and Abroad," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 88(350), pages 570-600, April.
    6. De Lyon, Josh & Pessoa, Joao Paulo, 2021. "Worker and firm responses to trade shocks: The UK-China case," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    7. Xuefeng Qian & Kalsoom Rafique & Yingna Wu, 2020. "Flying with the Dragon: Estimating Developing Countries’ Gains from China's Imports," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 28(5), pages 1-25, September.
    8. Heckl, Pia, 2024. "Import Shocks and Gendered Labor Market Responses: Evidence from Mexico," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    9. Dix-Carneiro, Rafael & Kovak, Brian K., 2019. "Margins of labor market adjustment to trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 125-142.
    10. Majlesi, Kaveh, 2016. "Labor market opportunities and women's decision making power within households," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 34-47.
    11. Muendler, Marc-Andreas, 2017. "Trade, technology, and prosperity: An account of evidence from a labor-market perspective," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2017-15, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    12. Sunghoon Chung, 2020. "Understanding the role of China's domestic market in the (unequal) growth of world economy," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(8), pages 2199-2221, August.
    13. Nina Pavcnik, 2017. "The Impact of Trade on Inequality in Developing Countries," NBER Working Papers 23878, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Costa, Francisco & Garred, Jason & Pessoa, João Paulo, 2016. "Winners and losers from a commodities-for-manufactures trade boom," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 50-69.
    15. César, Andrés & Falcone, Guillermo & Gasparini, Leonardo, 2021. "Costs and benefits of trade shocks: Evidence from Chilean local labor markets," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    16. Sascha Sardadvar & Christian Reiner, 2021. "Austrian regions in the age of globalisation: Trade exposure, urban dynamics and structural change," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 603-643, June.
    17. Biavaschi, Costanza & Elsner, Benjamin, 2013. "Let's Be Selective about Migrant Self-Selection," IZA Discussion Papers 7865, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Alexander Patt & Jens Ruhose & Simon Wiederhold & Miguel Flores, 2021. "International Emigrant Selection on Occupational Skills," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(2), pages 1249-1298.
    19. Jaerim Choi & Mingzhi Xu, 2020. "The labor market effects of the China Syndrome: Evidence from South Korean manufacturing," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(11), pages 3039-3087, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    international migration; domestic migration; import competition; negative self-selection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11346. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.