Why Is the Roy-Borjas Model Unable to Predict International Migrant Selection on Education? Evidence from Urban and Rural Mexico

Stefan Leopold (), Jens Ruhose () and Simon Wiederhold ()
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Stefan Leopold: University of Kiel
Jens Ruhose: University of Kiel

No 16339, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: The Roy-Borjas model predicts that international migrants are less educated than nonmigrants because the returns to education are generally higher in developing (migrant-sending) than in developed (migrant-receiving) countries. However, empirical evidence often shows the opposite. Using the case of Mexico-U.S. migration, we show that this inconsistency between predictions and empirical evidence can be resolved when the human capital of migrants is assessed using a two-dimensional measure of occupational skills rather than by educational attainment. Thus, focusing on a single skill dimension when investigating migrant selection can lead to misleading conclusions about the underlying economic incentives and behavioral models of migration.

Keywords: occupational skills; selection; international migration; education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 J24 J61 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2023-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-lma
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published - published online in: World Economy , 05 November 2024

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Related works:
Working Paper: Why Is the Roy-Borjas Model Unable to Predict International Migrant Selection on Education? Evidence from Urban and Rural Mexico (2023)
Working Paper: Why is the Roy-Borjas model unable to predict international migrant selection on education? Evidence from urban and rural Mexico (2023)
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