Essays on International Migration

Abstract

Essays on International Migration Abstract In my dissertation I address issues related to international mi- gration and its economic impact on the migrants' sending regions. For the empirical analysis I use data from household surveys con- ducted in countries and regions where the transition to a market economy, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the end of the communist era in Central and Eastern Europe, is associated with exceptionally large emigration. The first chapter is based on household survey data from Ar- menia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia and provides the first preliminary evidence on the scale of recent emigration from the South Caucasus and its impact on the economic development of the region. The large emigration flows from the South Caucasus consist primarily of older male labor migrants to Russia. The findings suggest that current migration from the South Caucasus does not involve mass emigra- tion of the skilled and the income gains from migration are large, but despite the higher incomes earned abroad, the migrants' households do not exhibit higher propensity to spend on education. The signif- icant correlation between having a migrant household member and the presence of a family business in Armenia, however, suggests that the migrants' earnings and remittances have the potential to...

Essays on International Migration Abstract In my dissertation I address issues related to international mi- gration and its economic impact on the migrants' sending regions. For the empirical analysis I use data from household surveys con- ducted in countries and regions where the transition to a market economy, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the end of the communist era in Central and Eastern Europe, is associated with exceptionally large emigration. The first chapter is based on household survey data from Ar- menia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia and provides the first preliminary evidence on the scale of recent emigration from the South Caucasus and its impact on the economic development of the region. The large emigration flows from the South Caucasus consist primarily of older male labor migrants to Russia. The findings suggest that current migration from the South Caucasus does not involve mass emigra- tion of the skilled and the income gains from migration are large, but despite the higher incomes earned abroad, the migrants' households do not exhibit higher propensity to spend on education. The signif- icant correlation between having a migrant household member and the presence of a family business in Armenia, however, suggests that the migrants' earnings and remittances have the potential to...