A Matching Model of the Market for Migrant Smuggling Services
40 Pages Posted: 3 Mar 2020
Date Written: January 10, 2020
Abstract
The important flows of irregular migration could not exist without the emergence of a criminal market for smuggling services. A matching model à la Pissarides (2000) provides a well-suited framework to analyze such a flow market with significant trade frictions. Our analysis considers the competitive segment of this underground market in which small-business smugglers can freely enter. The model allows us to determine the equilibrium number of smugglers, the matching probability, the number of successful irregular migrants and, as an original concept, the equilibrium migrant welfare. Changes in parameters can be related to the various policies implemented by destination countries to cut down irregular migration.
Keywords: Smuggling, Irregular migration, Matching model, Migrant welfare
JEL Classification: F22, O15, J46
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation