Comment on Migration Patterns and Income Change
Implications for the Human Capital Approach to Migration
Purchase
Purchase Print Copy
| Format | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add to Cart | Paperback8 pages | $20.00 | $16.00 20% Web Discount |
In a recent Southern Economic Journal article, Yezer and Thurston note that estimates of income differentials received by migrants that compare their post-migration wages to those of nonmigrants at either origin or destination may be biased because they do not incorporate the experience of migrants who did not remain at the destination. However, this is not the only selectivity bias to which such comparisons are subject. Ideally one should compare the post-migration wages of migrants to what they would have earned had they not moved. The latter, which cannot be observed, is often proxied by the wages of nonmigrants either at origin or destination. Using the origin wage of nonmigrants causes a selectivity bias, but it is even worse to use the destination wage of nonmigrants, as Yezer and Thurston do, since it may not even be systematically related to what migrants would have earned at origin had they not moved.
This report is part of the RAND Corporation Paper series. The paper was a product of the RAND Corporation from 1948 to 2003 that captured speeches, memorials, and derivative research, usually prepared on authors' own time and meant to be the scholarly or scientific contribution of individual authors to their professional fields. Papers were less formal than reports and did not require rigorous peer review.
This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.