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The long - term impact of international migration on economic decision - making: evidence from a migration lottery and lab - in - the - field experiments

Gibson, John and David McKenzie, David and Stillman, Steven and Rohorua, Halahingano (2016) The long - term impact of international migration on economic decision - making: evidence from a migration lottery and lab - in - the - field experiments. UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

We study how migration from a poor to a rich country affects key economic beliefs, preference parameters, and transnational household decision-making efficiency. Our setting is the migration of Tongans to New Zealand through a migration lottery program. In a tenyear follow-up survey of individuals applying for this program we elicit risk and time preferences and pro-market beliefs. We also link migrants and potential migrants to a partner
household consisting of family members who would stay behind if they moved. We play labin-the-field
games designed to measure the degree of intra-family trust and the efficiency of intra-family decision-making. Migration provides a large and permanent positive shock to income, a large change in economic institutions, and a reduction in interactions with partner household members. Despite these changes, we find no significant impacts of migration on risk and time preferences, pro-market beliefs, or in the decision-making efficiency of transnational households. This stability in the face of such a large and life-changing event lends credence to economic models of migration that treat these determinants of decisionmaking as time-invariant, and contrasts with recent evidence on preference changes after negative shocks.

Item Type: Other
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration
Divisions: Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) > Graduate School of Business
Depositing User: Generic Email
Date Deposited: 01 Mar 2018 01:51
Last Modified: 01 Mar 2018 01:51
URI: https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/10565

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