Temporary Labour Migration and Welfare at the New European Fringe: A Comparison of Five Eastern European Countries

Alexander Danzer and Barbara Dietz

No 4142, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper investigates patterns and determinants of temporary labour migration in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine after EU enlargement in 2004. Migration incidence, destination choices and migration determinants differ between poorer and better-off countries. Although broadly in line with general results from the migration literature, we observe some peculiarities like the high share of older migrants and a modest role of family obligations in the migration decision process. We find no indication of a brain drain related to temporary migration in sending regions as the educational background of migrants is rather low. Migration is used as household insurance against unemployment and is associated with lower incidence of poverty. This finding remains robust when attempting to reduce the potential omitted variable bias with an instrumental variable approach.

Keywords: cross-country study; Eastern Europe; welfare; temporary migration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 I31 J61 P23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 40 pages
Date: 2009-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eec, nep-lab, nep-mig and nep-tra
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published - substantially revised version published as 'Labour Migration from Eastern Europe and the EU’s Quest for Talents' in: Journal of Common Market Studies, 2014, 52 (2), 183-199

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Working Paper: Temporary Labour Migration and Welfare at the New European Fringe: A Comparison of Five Eastern European Countries (2009)
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