Does Emigration Benefit the Stayers? The EU Enlargement as a Natural Experiment. Evidence from Lithuania

Benjamin Elsner

The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series from IIIS

Abstract: The eastern enlargement of the European Union in 2004 triggered a large flow of migrant workers from the new member states to the UK and Ireland. This paper analyzes the impact of this migration wave on the real wages in the source countries. I consider the case of Lithuania, which had the highest share of emigrants relative to its workforce among all ten new member states. Using data from the Lithuanian Household Budget Survey and the Irish Census, I find that emigration had a significant positive effect on the wages of men who stayed in the country, but no such effect is visible for women. A percentage point increase in the emigration rate increases the real wage of men on average by 1\%. Several robustness checks confirm this result.

Keywords: Emigration; EU Enlargement; Labor Mobility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 J61 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2010-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eec, nep-eur, nep-lab and nep-tra
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Does Emigration Benefit the Stayers? The EU Enlargement as a Natural Experiment. Evidence from Lithuania (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iis:dispap:iiisdp326

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