TY - JOUR
T1 - Is Emigration Harmful to Those Left Behind?
AU - Docquier, Frédéric
AU - Veljanoska, Stefanija
PY - 2020/10/6
Y1 - 2020/10/6
N2 - From the perspective of sending countries, international migrants are positively selected in terms of schooling, particularly in low-income countries. While emigration affects human capital accumulation, it also induces positive spin-offs in the form of remittances, incentives to acquire education, and diffusion of technology and democratic ideas. The net income implications for those left behind are uncertain. This article reviews the main transmission channels investigated in the existing literature and uses a standard development accounting framework to provide estimates of their relative strength and of their combined effect. Although skill biased, emigration increases the disposable income of those left behind in no fewer than three-quarters of the countries of the world. This result is robust to variations in the set of parameter values within a reasonable spectrum established in the empirical literature.
AB - From the perspective of sending countries, international migrants are positively selected in terms of schooling, particularly in low-income countries. While emigration affects human capital accumulation, it also induces positive spin-offs in the form of remittances, incentives to acquire education, and diffusion of technology and democratic ideas. The net income implications for those left behind are uncertain. This article reviews the main transmission channels investigated in the existing literature and uses a standard development accounting framework to provide estimates of their relative strength and of their combined effect. Although skill biased, emigration increases the disposable income of those left behind in no fewer than three-quarters of the countries of the world. This result is robust to variations in the set of parameter values within a reasonable spectrum established in the empirical literature.
KW - emigration
KW - human capital
KW - economic development
KW - growth
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/19dd822e-eb09-3a8c-a961-0c67df8b16d2/
U2 - 10.1146/annurev-resource-110419-125230
DO - 10.1146/annurev-resource-110419-125230
M3 - Article
SN - 1941-1340
VL - 12
SP - 367
EP - 388
JO - Annual Review of Resource Economics
JF - Annual Review of Resource Economics
IS - 1
ER -