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Social Science > Emigration and Immigration

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Cover IMF Working Papers
Aggregate Shocks and the Formation of Preferences and Beliefs
Paola Giuliano
and
Antonio Spilimbergo
A growing body of work has shown that aggregate shocks affect the formation of preferences and beliefs. This article reviews evidence from sociology, social psychology, and economics to assess the relevance of aggregate shocks, whether the period in which they are experienced matters, and whether they alter preferences and beliefs permanently. We review the literature on recessions, inflation experiences, trade shocks, and aggregate non-economic shocks including migrations, wars, terrorist attacks, pandemics, and natural disasters. For each aggregate shock, we discuss the main empirical methodologies, their limitations, and their comparability across studies, outlining possible mechanisms whenever available. A few conclusions emerge consistently across the reviewed papers. First, aggregate shocks impact many preferences and beliefs, including political preferences, risk attitudes, and trust in institutions. Second, the effect of shocks experienced during young adulthood is stronger and longer lasting. Third, negative aggregate economic shocks generally move preferences and beliefs to the right of the political spectrum, while the effects of non-economic adverse shocks are more heterogeneous and depend on the context.
Keywords:
trade shock; inflation experience; effect of shock; economic shock; beliefs to the right; Economic recession; Natural disasters; Migration; Inflation; Global; Europe
Cover IMF Working Papers
Defying the Odds: Remittances During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Mr. Kangni R Kpodar
,
Mr. Montfort Mlachila
,
Mr. Saad N Quayyum
, and
Vigninou Gammadigbe
This paper provides an early assessment of the dynamics and drivers of remittances during the COVID-19 pandemic, using a newly compiled monthly remittance dataset for a sample of 52 countries, of which 16 countries with bilateral remittance data. The paper documents a strong resilience in remittance flows, notwithstanding an unprecedent global recession triggered by the pandemic. Using the local projection approach to estimate the impulse response functions of remittance flows during Jan 2020-Dec 2020, the paper provides evidence that: (i) remittances responded positively to COVID-19 infection rates in migrant home countries, underscoring its role as an important automatic stabilizer; (ii) stricter containment measures have the unintended consequence of dampening remittances; and (iii) a shift from informal to formal remittance channels due to travel restrictions appears to have also played a role in the surge in formal remittances. Lastly, the size of the fiscal stimulus in host countries is positively associated with remittances as the fiscal response cushions the economic impact of the pandemic.
Keywords:
Remittances; COVID-19; Shocks; impulse response function; infection rate; home economy; remittance flow; corridor data; Fiscal stimulus; Migration; Inward remittances; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Immigration and Employment: Substitute Versus Complementary Labor in Selected African Countries
Arina Viseth
This paper uses census and household survey data on Cameroon, Ghana, and South Africa to examine immigration’s impact in the context of a segmented labor market in Sub-Saharan Africa. We find that immigration affects (i) employment (ii) employment allocation between informal and formal sectors, and (iii) the type of employment within each sector. The direction of the impact depends on the degree of complementarity between immigrants and native workers’ skills. Immigration is found to be productivity-enhancing in the short to near term in countries where, the degree of complementarity between immigrants and native workers’ skill sets is the highest.
Keywords:
WP; immigration share; wage employment; native worker; immigration's impact; impact immigration; Immigration; Formal and Informal Sector; Employment; Occupational Choice; Complementary Versus Substitute Skills; Cameroon; Ghana; South Africa; employment rate; supply shock; Migration; Labor markets; Informal employment; Self-employment; Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; origin country
Cover Departmental Papers
A Work in Progress: Integrating Markets for Goods, Labor, and Capital in the East African Community
Mr. Emre Alper
,
Ms. Wenjie Chen
,
Mr. Jemma Dridi
,
Mr. Herve Joly
, and
Mr. Fan Yang
This paper assesses the extent of economic and financial integration among the East African Community (EAC) along a number of dimensions and, where possible, whether integration has increased in the wake of the major regional integration policy milestones.
Keywords:
DPPP; DP; EAC country; country; Uganda; Kenya; Rwanda; EAC Cm scorecard; partner state; EAC citizen; EAC member states; excl. EAC; EAC secretariat; Imports; Migration; Direction of trade; Tariffs; Capital controls; Sub-Saharan Africa; Africa; North America
Cover Finance & Development
Finance and Development, December 2016
International Working Group on External Debt Statistics
This issue of Finance & Development examines the good and bad sides of globalization. Sebastian Mallaby notes that after decades of increasing cross-border movements of capital, goods, and people, only migration continues apace. Capital flows have collapsed, and trade has stagnated. However, rather than a sign of retreat, trade and finance may be resetting to a more sustainable level consistent with continued globalization. IMF Chief Economist Maurice Obstfeld takes a closer look at trade. Ismaila Dieng profiles Leonard Wantchekon, a former activist who plans to train the next generation of African economists. Wantchekon, now a professor at Princeton University, is one of the few African economists teaching at a top US university. His research, which has received considerable attention from development economists, focuses on the political and historical roots of economic development in Africa.
Keywords:
FD; F&D; income; trade; gain; economy
Cover Spillover Notes
Sub-Saharan African Migration: Patterns and Spillovers
Mr. Jesus R Gonzalez-Garcia
,
Mr. Ermal Hitaj
,
Mr. Montfort Mlachila
,
Arina Viseth
, and
Mustafa Yenice
Amid rapid population growth, migration in sub-Saharan Africa has been increasing briskly over the last 20 years. Up to the 1990s, the stock of migrants—citizens of one country living in another country—was dominated by intraregional migration, but over the last 15 years, migration outside the region has picked up sharply. In the coming decades, sub-Saharan African migration will be shaped by an ongoing demographic transition involving an enlargement of the working-age population, and migration outside the region, in particular to advanced economies, is set to continue expanding. This note explores the main drivers of sub-Saharan African migration, focusing on migration outside the region, as this has greater global spillovers. It finds that the economic impact of migration for the region occurs mainly through two channels. First, the migration of young and educated workers—brain drain—takes a toll as human capital is already scarce in the region, although some recent studies suggest that migration may have also a positive effect—brain gain. Second, remittances represent an important source of foreign exchange and income in a number of sub-Saharan African countries, contribute to the alleviation of poverty, and help smooth business cycles.
Keywords:
SN; Sub-Saharan Africa; country; SSA migration; remittance; migration rate; emigration prospect; refugee migration; migration trend; SSA migrant; migration pattern; Migration; Remittances; Population growth; Demographic change; Europe; Africa; Middle East
Cover IMF Working Papers
The Global Financial Crisis and Workers' Remittances to Africa: What's the Damage?
Mr. Ralph Chami
,
Mr. Adolfo Barajas
,
Anjali Garg
, and
Connel Fullenkamp
Using data on the distribution of migrants from Africa, GDP growth forecasts for host countries, and after estimating remittance multipliers in recipient countries, this paper estimates the impact of the global economic crisis on African GDP via the remittance channel during 2009-2010. It forecasts remittance declines into African countries of between 3 and 14 percentage points, with migrants to Europe hardest hit while migrants within Africa relatively unaffected by the crisis. The estimated impact on GDP for relatively remittance-dependent countries is 2 percent for 2009, but will likely be short-lived, as host country income is projected to rise in 2010.
Keywords:
WP; country; GDP growth; Remittances; economic growth; migration; Africa; global crisis; host-country GDP; remittance multiplier; remittance-GDP ratio; host-country income; countries Armenia; Tranisiton country; remittance-determination equation; remittance flow; host-country variable; Income; Outward remittances; Balance of payments statistics; Global; Middle East; Europe; North Africa
Cover IMF Working Papers
Impact of Remittances on Poverty and Financial Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
Mr. Sanjeev Gupta
,
Ms. Catherine A Pattillo
, and
Ms. Smita Wagh
This paper assesses the impact of the steadily growing remittance flows to sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Though the region receives only a small portion of the total recorded remittances to developing countries, and the volume of aid flows to SSA swamps remittances, this paper finds that remittances, which are a stable, private transfer, have a direct poverty mitigating effect, and promote financial development. These findings hold even after factoring in the reverse causality between remittances, poverty and financial development. The paper posits that formalizing such flows can serve as an effective access point for "unbanked" individuals and households, and that the effective use of such flows can mitigate the costs of skilled out-migration in SSA.
Keywords:
WP; remittance
Cover IMF Working Papers
Determinants of Emigrant Deposits in Cape Verde
International Monetary Fund
In the last decade Cape Verde has experienced a strong accumulation of emigrant deposits. These deposits have provided much needed foreign exchange to the country, adding support to the exchange rate peg. This paper studies the long-run determinants of emigrant deposits with respect to risk, wealth, and return variables, isolating speculative and altruistic motives underlying the accumulation of flows. The study suggests that the temporary character of recent emigration is responsible for the rise in the share of flows driven by altruism. Finally, the paper discusses policy implications in light of the empirical findings and the recent literature on this topic.
Keywords:
WP; emigrant deposit; deposit; ED flow; emigrant deposits indicator
Cover IMF Survey
Bulletin du FMI vol. 35, n° 5, mars 2006
International Monetary Fund. External Relations Dept.
En mettant l’accent sur le travail du FMI et sur les grandes questions macroéconomiques et financières internationales, le Bulletin du FMI présente une analyse des développements nationaux, régionaux et mondiaux, des informations sur le travail, les politiques, les réformes et les activités d'assistance technique du FMI, les conclusions d'études de calibre mondial, des données essentielles qui ne sont souvent pas disponibles ailleurs, ainsi que des rapports sur les discussions économiques et financières au sein du FMI et ailleurs. Publié douze fois par an, ce bulletin de seize pages s'adresse à un large public : dirigeants, analystes, chercheurs, étudiants et journalistes. Disponible en anglais, français et espagnol.
Keywords:
SV; IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings; SDR; Scaling-up scenario; IMF participation