Three Essays on the Economics of International Migration.

Abstract

International migration is a key labor market option in many developing countries. This dissertation investigates three questions about the effects of international migration on migrant-sending countries. In the first chapter, I use an original dataset of all new migrant departures from the Philippines to examine the effect of changes in migration demand on province-level secondary school enrollment rates. To isolate exogenous changes in demand, I create a Bartik-style instrument that exploits variation in destination-specific migrant networks across local labor markets. I find that secondary enrollment increases by 2.1%. These effects can occur through two channels: an income channel or a wage premium channel, and the income channel is dominant. I provide complementary evidence by analyzing a natural experiment that led to the closure of a major migration channel for Filipinos.

In the second chapter, coauthored with David McKenzie and Dean Yang, we use an original dataset of migrant departures from the Philippines to identify the responsiveness of migrant numbers and wages to GDP shocks in destination countries. We find a large, significant response of migrant numbers to GDP shocks at destination, but no significant wage response. This is consistent with binding minimum wages for migrant labor. This result implies that labor market imperfections that make international migration attractive also make migrant flows more sensitive to global business cycles. Difference-in-differences analysis of a minimum wage change for maids confirms that minimum wages bind and demand is price sensitive without these distortions.

The third chapter uses a natural experiment to examine the effects of migration barriers on labor market decisions in the migrant-sending country. In 2005, Japan raised requirements for Filipino performing artists, effectively closing this migration channel. I employ a difference-in-differences estimation strategy using the share of performing artists at baseline in each Philippine province as a continuous policy variable. International migration falls in response to the policy change by 1.2%. The effect on international migration is larger than the policy change itself would suggest, indicating the importance of spillovers across migrant occupations. Domestically, more children are employed, and adults are more likely to be unemployed or engaged in short-term work.