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Do High-Income or Low-Income Immigrants Leave Faster?

Author

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  • Govert Bijwaard

    (Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) and IZA Bonn)

  • Jackline Wahba

    (University of Southampton and IZA Bonn)

Abstract

We estimate the impact of the income earned in the host country on return migration of labour migrants from developing countries. We use a three-state correlated competing risks model to account for the strong dependence of labour market status and the income earned. Our analysis is based on administrative panel data of recent labour immigrants from developing countries to the Netherlands. The empirical results show that intensities of return migration are U-shaped with respect to migrants’ income, implying a higher intensity in low- and high- income groups. Indeed, the lowest-income group has the highest probability of return. We also find that ignoring the interdependence of labour market status and the income earned leads to underestimating the impact of low income and overestimating the impact of high income.

Suggested Citation

  • Govert Bijwaard & Jackline Wahba, 2013. "Do High-Income or Low-Income Immigrants Leave Faster?," Norface Discussion Paper Series 2013013, Norface Research Programme on Migration, Department of Economics, University College London.
    • Handle: RePEc:nor:wpaper:2013013
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    migration dynamics; labour market transitions; competing risks; immigrant assimilation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • C41 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Duration Analysis; Optimal Timing Strategies

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