Self-Selection, Earnings, and Out-Migration: A Longitudinal Study of Immigrants to Germany

80 Pages Posted: 1 Feb 2003

See all articles by Amelie F. Constant

Amelie F. Constant

Princeton University; UNU-MERIT; CESifo; University of Pennsylvania

Douglas Massey

University of Pennsylvania, School of Arts and Sciences

Date Written: December 2002

Abstract

In this paper we seek to deepen understanding of out-migration as a social and economic process and to investigate whether cross-sectional earnings assimilation results suffer from selection bias. To model the process of out-migration we conduct a detailed event history analysis of men and women immigrants in Germany. Our 14-year longitudinal study reveals that emigrants are negatively selected with respect to occupational prestige and to stable full time employment. Our results show no selectivity with respect to human capital, earnings, or gender. The likelihood of return migration is strongly determined by the range and nature of social attachments to Germany and origin countries, and grows higher toward retirement. This selective emigration, however, does not appear to distort cross-sectional estimates of earnings assimilation.

Keywords: Return Migration, Immigrant Assimilation, Event History

JEL Classification: J61, J2, C4

Suggested Citation

Constant, Amelie F. and Massey, Douglas, Self-Selection, Earnings, and Out-Migration: A Longitudinal Study of Immigrants to Germany (December 2002). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=372477 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.372477

Amelie F. Constant (Contact Author)

Princeton University ( email )

189 Wallace Hall
Princeton, NJ 08544
United States

HOME PAGE: http://opr.princeton.edu/visitors/

UNU-MERIT ( email )

Keizer Karelplein 19
Maastricht, 6211TC
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://www.merit.unu.edu/about-us/profile/?staff_id=2419

CESifo ( email )

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.cesifo-group.de/ifoHome/research/Network/Members.html

University of Pennsylvania ( email )

Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States

Douglas Massey

University of Pennsylvania, School of Arts and Sciences ( email )

Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
215-898-4688 (Phone)

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
171
Abstract Views
2,101
Rank
315,980
PlumX Metrics