IFPRI’s Applied Microeconomics & Development Seminar Series provides a forum for researchers to present top-quality applied microeconomics and development work. Seminars are held on the first and third Thursdays of each month, generally at IFPRI’s Washington DC office but periodically in country offices. Please contact Julie Lang (j.lang@cgiar.org) if you have any questions.
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September 10
Speaker: Dean Yang, Professor at University of Michigan
11:00-12:15pm Eastern Time
IFPRI HQ – Conference Room 12CD
Abundance from Abroad: International Migration and the Developing World
International labor migration from developing to developed countries generates income gains for migrants that dwarf those from any known development intervention, with workers routinely experiencing 4–5-fold wage increases upon migration. These individual gains translate into massive remittance flows to developing countries that far exceed foreign aid flows. This review synthesizes the rapidly growing literature on migration’s impacts on origin countries, emphasizing studies with credible causal identification. The evidence progresses from individual and household effects, where migrants and their families experience substantial gains in income, education investments, and consumption smoothing, to broader impacts on the origin area, including regional economic development and widespread human capital formation. Contrary to concerns about so-called brain drain, recent research reveals brain gain effects whereby migration opportunities increase educational investments and skill formation. Migration also has additional positive effects through trade and investment linkages, knowledge transfers, and changing social norms. This review also discusses policies for enhancing migration’s development impacts and key areas for future research.
AMD Seminar Series 