Intergenerational Returns to Migration: Evidence from Italian Migrants Worldwide
Guido Neidhöfer, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research
Title of the paper being discussed: Intergenerational Returns to Migration: Evidence from Italian Migrants Worldwide
Authors: Chiara Malavasi and Guido Neidhöfer
Abstract: The main rational motivation understood to be behind migration decisions is to improve opportunities and future life chances, both for the migrants themselves and for their offspring.
Using unique administrative data on Italians living abroad, the authors estimate the effect of parental migration on the education, employment and income opportunities of descendants in the host country, by comparing Italian second-generation immigrants with Italians residing in Italy having similar characteristics, such as age, sex, Italian region of origin and parental background.
To account for self-selection on unobservable characteristics, they apply a multinomial selection bias correction framework. We find heterogeneous returns to migration across destination countries, higher returns in terms of estimated income than education, and observe important gender differences. These heterogeneity is associated with certain characteristics of the host country’s education system and labour market. Finally, we test whether the expectation of better opportunities for both migrants and their children indeed plays an important role for the migration choice.
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Venue: 0.18, UNU-MERIT, Boschstraat 24, 6211 AX Maastricht
Date: 16 March 2023
Time: 12:00 - 13:00 CEST
