Deterring Emigration with Foreign Aid: An Overview of Evidence from Low-Income Countries

Michael Clemens and Hannah M. Postel (hpostel@princeton.edu)
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Hannah M. Postel: Princeton University

No 136, IZA Policy Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: In response to the recent migrant and refugee crisis, rich countries have redoubled policy efforts to deter future immigration from poor countries by addressing the "root causes" of migration. We review existing evidence on the effectiveness of such efforts. First, aid disbursements do not generally follow "root causes" rhetoric. The sectoral distribution of aid to migrant-origin countries does not significantly differ from its distribution in other countries. Second, the evidence suggests that aid's capacity to deter migration is small at best. Aid can only encourage economic growth, employment, and security to a limited degree. Beyond this, successful development in almost all formerly-poor countries has produced an increase in emigration. Third, this evidence implies that donors could achieve greater impact by leveraging foreign aid not to deter migration but to shape it for mutual benefit.

Keywords: root causes; migration; migrant; crisis; aid; ODA; development; push (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 F35 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 pages
Date: 2017-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mig
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Deterring Emigration with Foreign Aid: An Overview of Evidence from Low‐Income Countries (2018)
Working Paper: Deterring Emigration with Foreign Aid: An Overview of Evidence from Low-Income Countries (2018)
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