Empirical Methods in the Economics of International Immigration

34 Pages Posted: 22 Nov 2010 Last revised: 8 May 2025

See all articles by Fernando A. Lozano

Fernando A. Lozano

Pomona College; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Michael D. Steinberger

Pomona College - Department of Economics

Abstract

In this chapter we provide a brief overview of the main empirical tools used by economists to study international migration. We begin by exploring the three broad research areas that economists examine when researching immigration. We then explore the strengths and shortcomings of the standard methods, and highlight new methods that will likely become more common in future work in the field. We divide the most common tools used in the empirical literature into four broad categories: (1) Ordinary Least Squares and Inference, (2) Difference-in-Difference Estimation, (3) Instrumental Variables Techniques, and (4) Recent Developments and Distributional Estimators. We use recent empirical work to highlight and explain each method, and provide sources for researchers interested in further information on each topic.

Keywords: empirical methods, immigration

JEL Classification: F22

Suggested Citation

Lozano, Fernando A. and Steinberger, Michael D., Empirical Methods in the Economics of International Immigration. IZA Discussion Paper No. 5328, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1712635

Fernando A. Lozano (Contact Author)

Pomona College ( email )

Claremont, CA 91711
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Michael D. Steinberger

Pomona College - Department of Economics ( email )

425 N. College Ave.
Claremont, CA 91711
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.economics.pomona.edu/steinberger/

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