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A Theory of Migration as a Response to Occupational Stigma

Author

Listed:
  • Stark, Oded

    (ZEF, University of Bonn)

  • Fan, C. Simon

    (Department of Economics, Lingnan University, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong)

Abstract
A theory is developed of labor migration that is prompted by a desire to avoid "social humiliation." In a general equilibrium framework it is shown that as long as migration can reduce humiliation sufficiently, migration will occur even between two identical economies. Migration increases the number of individuals who choose to perform degrading jobs and consequently, migration lowers the price of the good produced in the sector that is associated with low social status. Moreover, the greater an individual’s aversion to performing degrading jobs, the more likely it is that he will experience a welfare gain when the economy opens up.

Suggested Citation

  • Stark, Oded & Fan, C. Simon, 2010. "A Theory of Migration as a Response to Occupational Stigma," Economics Series 247, Institute for Advanced Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:ihs:ihsesp:247
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    File URL: https://irihs.ihs.ac.at/id/eprint/1967
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Luis Diaz‐Serrano & Joop Hartog & Helena Skyt Nielsen, 2008. "Compensating Wage Differentials for Schooling Risk in Denmark," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 110(4), pages 711-731, December.
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    3. Oded Stark & Christian Helmenstein & Yury Yegorov, 1997. "Migrants' Savings, Purchasing Power Parity, and the Optimal Duration of Migration," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 4(3), pages 307-324, July.
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    6. Richard J. Butler & John D. Worrall, 2008. "Wage and Injury Response to Shifts in Workplace Liability," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 61(2), pages 181-200, January.
    7. Stark, Oded & Taylor, J Edward, 1991. "Migration Incentives, Migration Types: The Role of Relative Deprivation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(408), pages 1163-1178, September.
    8. Keith A. Bender, 1998. "The Central Government‐Private Sector Wage Differential," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(2), pages 177-220, April.
    9. Weiss, Yoram & Fershtman, Chaim, 1998. "Social status and economic performance:: A survey," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(3-5), pages 801-820, May.
    10. Paul Gertler & Manisha Shah & Stefano M. Bertozzi, 2005. "Risky Business: The Market for Unprotected Commercial Sex," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(3), pages 518-550, June.
    11. Fershtman, Chaim & Weiss, Yoram, 1993. "Social Status, Culture and Economic Performance," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 103(419), pages 946-959, July.
    12. Stark, Oded & Fan, C. Simon, 2007. "The analytics of seasonal migration," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 304-312, February.
    13. Cole, Harold L & Mailath, George J & Postlewaite, Andrew, 1992. "Social Norms, Savings Behavior, and Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(6), pages 1092-1125, December.
    14. Stark, Oded & Wang, You Qiang, 2005. "Towards a Theory of Self-Segregation as a Response to Relative Deprivation: Steady-State Outcomes and Social Welfare," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 223-242.
    15. Gary S. Becker & Kevin M. Murphy & Ivan Werning, 2005. "The Equilibrium Distribution of Income and the Market for Status," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(2), pages 282-310, April.
    16. Rosenzweig, Mark R & Stark, Oded, 1989. "Consumption Smoothing, Migration, and Marriage: Evidence from Rural India," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(4), pages 905-926, August.
    17. George A. Akerlof, 1980. "A Theory of Social Custom, of which Unemployment may be One Consequence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 94(4), pages 749-775.
    18. George A. Akerlof, 2007. "The Missing Motivation in Macroeconomics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(1), pages 5-36, March.
    19. Stark, Oded & Micevska, Maja & Mycielski, Jerzy, 2009. "Relative poverty as a determinant of migration: Evidence from Poland," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 103(3), pages 119-122, June.
    20. Lena Edlund & Evelyn Korn, 2002. "A Theory of Prostitution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(1), pages 181-214, February.
    21. Takatoshi Ito, 1997. "Purchasing Power Parity," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number ito_97-2.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Oded Stark & Marcin Jakubek & Krzysztof Szczygielski, 2020. "The social preferences of the native inhabitants, and the decision how many asylum seekers to admit," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 156(1), pages 133-152, February.
    2. Oded Stark & Marcin Jakubek, 2016. "Can a Concern for Status Reconcile Diverse Social Welfare Programs?," Research on Economic Inequality, in: Inequality after the 20th Century: Papers from the Sixth ECINEQ Meeting, volume 24, pages 235-246, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    3. Stark, Oded & Zawojska, Ewa & Kohler, Wilhelm & Szczygielski, Krzysztof, 2018. "An adverse social welfare effect of a doubly gainful trade," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 77-84.
    4. Oded Stark & Franz Rendl & Marcin Jakubek, 2012. "The merger of populations, the incidence of marriages, and aggregate unhappiness," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 331-344, April.
    5. Stark, Oded, 2019. "Behavior in reverse: reasons for return migration," Behavioural Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(1), pages 104-126, May.
    6. Stark, Oded & Kobus, Martyna & Jakubek, Marcin, 2012. "A concern about low relative income, and the alignment of utilitarianism with egalitarianism," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 114(3), pages 235-238.
    7. Stark, Oded & Byra, Lukasz & Casarico, Alessandra & Uebelmesser, Silke, 2017. "A critical comparison of migration policies: Entry fee versus quota," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 91-107.
    8. Stark, Oded, 2013. "Stressful Integration," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1-9.
    9. Oded Stark & Walter Hyll & Yong Wang, 2012. "Endogenous Selection of Comparison Groups, Human Capital Formation, and Tax Policy," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 79(313), pages 62-75, January.
    10. Stark, Oded, 2012. "Integration, social distress, and policy formation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 318-321.
    11. Sorger, Gerhard & Stark, Oded, 2013. "Income redistribution going awry: The reversal power of the concern for relative deprivation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1-9.
    12. Oded Stark & Fryderyk Falniowski & Marcin Jakubek, 2017. "Consensus Income Distribution," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63(4), pages 899-911, December.
    13. Oded Stark, 2017. "Migration when Social Preferences are Ordinal: Steady-state Population Distribution and Social Welfare," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 84(336), pages 647-666, October.
    14. Stark, Oded & Jakubek, Marcin & Falniowski, Fryderyk, 2014. "Reconciling the Rawlsian and the utilitarian approaches to the maximization of social welfare," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 439-444.
    15. Nina Neubecker, 2013. "Low Occupational Prestige and Internal Migration in Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 562, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    16. Ünay Tamgaç Tezcan, 2016. "Reference Groups And Household Consumption: Evidence From Turkey," Ekonomi-tek - International Economics Journal, Turkish Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 71-107, January.
    17. Ruxanda Berlinschi & Jan Fidrmuc, 2018. "Comfort and Conformity: A Culture-based Theory of Migration," CESifo Working Paper Series 7294, CESifo.
    18. Dong, Baomin & Fu, Shihe & Gong, Jiong & Fan, Hanwen, 2014. "The Lame Drain," MPRA Paper 53825, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Stark, Oded & Fan, C. Simon, 2011. "Migration for degrading work as an escape from humiliation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 241-247, March.
    20. Stark, Oded & Byra, Lukasz, 2018. "How admitting migrants with any skills can help overcome a shortage of workers with particular skills," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 144-150.
    21. Heiland, Inga & Kohler, Wilhelm, 2022. "Heterogeneous workers, trade, and migration," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    22. Oded Stark & Marcin Jakubek & Martyna Kobus, 2015. "A bitter choice turned sweet: How acknowledging individuals’ concern at having a low relative income serves to align utilitarianism and egalitarianism," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 541-557, July.
    23. Stark, Oded, 2017. "Possible Policy Responses to a Dark Side of the Integration of Regions and Nations," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 329-341.
    24. repec:lic:licosd:40518 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Hasan Yuksel, 2021. "An Investigation on the Link between International Labor Migration and Undocumented Employment: Evidence from Turkish Cinema," Journal of Economy Culture and Society, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 64(64), pages 21-46, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Migration; social distance; occupational status; social exposure gains; general equilibrium;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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