What If Immigrants Had Not Migrated?

Seong Woo Lee, Dowell Myers, Seong‐Kyu Ha and Hae Ran Shin

American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 2005, vol. 64, issue 2, 609-636

Abstract: Abstract. Despite strong theoretical arguments and models about international migration, very few empirical studies rigorously test these arguments and models. The purpose of the present study is to analyze determinants and consequences for international migration, focusing particularly on the returns to post‐hoc international migration. The present study compares residential well‐being of Korean international migrants in the United States with that of their hypothetical well‐being if they had not migrated. Our suggested models of the selectivity corrected returns to various characteristics for immigrants and nonimmigrants enable us to estimate the “opportunity well‐being” of individuals and households; that is, the well‐being of immigrants‐had‐they‐stayed and of nonimmigrants‐if‐they‐had‐immigrated. The data for our analyses are drawn from the 1990 Korea Census Data and the Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS) of the 1990 U.S. Census. In either case of migrants‐had‐they‐stayed or of nonimmigrants‐had‐they‐migrated, international migration to the United States has a significant and positive effect on the probability of homeownership, especially for women. The results show that the predicted probability of homeownership attainment increases as a result of migration by 15 percent to 16 percent for women and by 8 percent for men. The study concludes that migrating to the United States offers better opportunities for homeownership than staying in Korea does, particularly for women.

Date: 2005
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