New IZA DPs -- Migration / Integration
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IZA Publications
Jan 21, 2026, 10:02:20 AMJan 21
to it...@umich.edu
Dear Italo Gutierrez,
These new IZA Discussion Papers are now available online.
DP 18278 - Akan/Barrero/Bloom/Bowen/Buckman/Davis/Kim:
The New Geography of Labor Markets
DP 18284 - Landersø/Karlson:
Intergenerational Educational Mobility Among Immigrants and Descendants in Denmark: The Role of Sample Selectivity and Data Quality
DP 18308 - Clemens:
From Root Causes to Shared Gains: Migration Policy for Low-Income Countries in a Labor-Scarce World
DP 18312 - Budría/Martínez de Ibarreta/Betancourt-Odio:
Does Host Language Proficiency Among Immigrants Reduce Energy Poverty? Evidence from Australia
DP 18319 - Schmandt/Tielkes/Weinhardt:
Random Placement but Real Bias
DP 18321 - Mundra/Bagheri:
H-1B Visa Program, Visa Cap and Foreign Worker Earnings
Please find the abstracts and download links below.
You might also be interested in this World of Labor content:
Key topic: How does migration policy affect the labor market
IZA DP No. 18278
Mert Akan, José María Barrero, Nicholas Bloom, Tom Bowen, Shelby Rae Buckman, Steven J. Davis, Hyoseul Kim:
The New Geography of Labor Markets
Abstract:
We study where Americans live in relation to their employer’s worksite using matched employer-employee data, and how that relationship changes with the rise of work from home (WFH). Mean distance from home to employer’s worksite rose more than 70% between 2019 and 2024 in our dataset. Twelve percent of employees hired after March 2020 reside fifty or more miles from their employer by 2024, triple the pre-pandemic share. Distance to employer rose most for those in their 30s and 40s, among highly paid employees, and in Finance, Information, and Professional Services. Especially for the affluent, the pandemic-instigated rise in WFH initiated a multi-year pattern of net migration to areas with cheaper housing and states with lower tax rates. Finally, we show that distant employees exhibit more sensitivity to firm-level adjustments on hiring and separation margins. These developments have implications for residential location, state-level tax revenues, labor markets, and household welfare.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18278.pdf
IZA DP No. 18284
Rasmus Landersø, Kristian B. Karlson:
Intergenerational Educational Mobility Among Immigrants and Descendants in Denmark: The Role of Sample Selectivity and Data Quality
Abstract:
This paper studies intergenerational educational mobility among immigrants and descendants in Denmark for cohorts born between 1965 and 1990. At first glance, the data suggests that immigrants experience higher mobility than native Danes, but this pattern is driven by low coverage and poor data quality of parental education information in administrative registers. Among immigrants with the most reliable data, mobility patterns closely resemble those of natives. Auxiliary analyses using representative survey data corroborate this finding. Moreover, including immigrants in population-wide mobility estimates—given their artificially high relative mobility—attenuates trends in estimated mobility, especially for cohorts bornin the 1980s.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18284.pdf
IZA DP No. 18308
Michael A. Clemens:
From Root Causes to Shared Gains: Migration Policy for Low-Income Countries in a Labor-Scarce World
Abstract:
International migration policy for lower-income countries is still guided by assumptions from an earlier era—when less-educated labor was abundant, skilled emigration was seen purely as ‘brain drain,’ and development was expected to reduce migration. That world is gone. This paper reviews recent research on migration policy in the 21st century, when demographic decline is making labor scarce globally, skilled emigration can yield net long- term gains for origin countries, and development often increases migration pressures for generations. The literature shows that migration, managed through innovative institutions, can sustain fiscal systems in aging economies, spur human capital investment at origin, and accelerate structural change. Migration is not a substitute for development, but a catalyst and major opportunity. Policy priorities include regional free-movement regimes, new destination-country partnerships, restructured skill-training systems for a mobile world, and int egrating migration into aid partnerships. Much more research is needed to understand the impacts of these tools.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18308.pdf
IZA DP No. 18312
Santiago Budría, Carlos Martínez de Ibarreta, Alejandro Betancourt-Odio:
Does Host Language Proficiency Among Immigrants Reduce Energy Poverty? Evidence from Australia
Abstract:
Reducing energy poverty is a critical priority for policymakers in both developed and developing nations. Immigrants are often considered a high-risk group due to their heightened vulnerability. While host language proficiency has the potential to mitigate energy poverty among immigrants by enhancing economic integration and facilitating access to essential information and services, its role remains largely unexplored. Using Australian data and addressing endogeneity concerns through a two-stage least-squares (2SLS) approach, this paper presents the first empirical analysis of host language proficiency as a determinant of energy poverty among immigrants. The results show that proficiency in the host language reduces the likelihood of experiencing multidimensional energy poverty by approximately 18.8 percentage points. This effect is partly driven by higher incomes and better access to social assistance among proficient immigrants. The findings underscore the importance of lan guage skills in shaping energy poverty and highlight the need for language education to reduce economic disparities among immigrant populations.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18312.pdf
IZA DP No. 18319
Marco Schmandt, Constantin Tielkes, Felix Weinhardt:
Random Placement but Real Bias
Abstract:
Many studies exploit the random placement of individuals into groups such as schools or regions to estimate the effects of group-level variables on these individuals. Assuming a simple data generating process, we show that the typical estimate contains three components: the causal effect of interest, ”multiple-treatment bias” (MTB), and ”mobility bias” (MB). The extent of these biases depends on the interrelations of group-level variables and onward mobility. We develop a checklist that can be used to assess the relevance of the biases based on observable quantities. We apply this framework to novel administrative data on randomly placed refugees in Germany and confirm empirically that MTB and MB cannot be ignored. The biases can even switch the signs of estimates of popular group-level variables, despite random placement. We discuss implications for the literature and alternative "ideal experiments''.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18319.pdf
IZA DP No. 18321
Kusum Mundra, Omid Bagheri:
H-1B Visa Program, Visa Cap and Foreign Worker Earnings
Abstract:
Using various years of data from the National Survey of College Survey we examine the earnings of work visa immigrants who entered the U.S. during the various H-1B cap periods and whether the cap was binding or not at the time of their entry. For work visa entrants in the non-academic sector as well as from cap bound countries, we find that earning premium relative to college graduate natives ranges between 17%-25% if the immigrants entered the U.S. during the initial period of H-1B and during the later binding cap periods. This premium is lost if immigrants first entered on H-1B during the non-binding period. Compared to pre 1990 work immigrants we find there is a drop in earnings for immigrants who entered on H-1B during the non binding period. This is not seen in the academic sector and for five cap exempt countries, where cap is not relevant. Our findings are driven by the H-1B program involving staffing agencies hiring of low ability workers and workers facing wage suppr ession with limited job mobility. Work visa entrants may also face scarring in the labor market because of lack of U.S. education experience. We do not find this drop in earning for student visa entrants who are admitted by the university selection process.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18321.pdf
Please click here to change your subscription status.
If you have trouble downloading the papers, or for any other questions regarding the IZA Discussion Paper Series, contact public...@iza.org.
These new IZA Discussion Papers are now available online.
DP 18278 - Akan/Barrero/Bloom/Bowen/Buckman/Davis/Kim:
The New Geography of Labor Markets
DP 18284 - Landersø/Karlson:
Intergenerational Educational Mobility Among Immigrants and Descendants in Denmark: The Role of Sample Selectivity and Data Quality
DP 18308 - Clemens:
From Root Causes to Shared Gains: Migration Policy for Low-Income Countries in a Labor-Scarce World
DP 18312 - Budría/Martínez de Ibarreta/Betancourt-Odio:
Does Host Language Proficiency Among Immigrants Reduce Energy Poverty? Evidence from Australia
DP 18319 - Schmandt/Tielkes/Weinhardt:
Random Placement but Real Bias
DP 18321 - Mundra/Bagheri:
H-1B Visa Program, Visa Cap and Foreign Worker Earnings
Please find the abstracts and download links below.
You might also be interested in this World of Labor content:
Key topic: How does migration policy affect the labor market
IZA DP No. 18278
Mert Akan, José María Barrero, Nicholas Bloom, Tom Bowen, Shelby Rae Buckman, Steven J. Davis, Hyoseul Kim:
The New Geography of Labor Markets
Abstract:
We study where Americans live in relation to their employer’s worksite using matched employer-employee data, and how that relationship changes with the rise of work from home (WFH). Mean distance from home to employer’s worksite rose more than 70% between 2019 and 2024 in our dataset. Twelve percent of employees hired after March 2020 reside fifty or more miles from their employer by 2024, triple the pre-pandemic share. Distance to employer rose most for those in their 30s and 40s, among highly paid employees, and in Finance, Information, and Professional Services. Especially for the affluent, the pandemic-instigated rise in WFH initiated a multi-year pattern of net migration to areas with cheaper housing and states with lower tax rates. Finally, we show that distant employees exhibit more sensitivity to firm-level adjustments on hiring and separation margins. These developments have implications for residential location, state-level tax revenues, labor markets, and household welfare.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18278.pdf
IZA DP No. 18284
Rasmus Landersø, Kristian B. Karlson:
Intergenerational Educational Mobility Among Immigrants and Descendants in Denmark: The Role of Sample Selectivity and Data Quality
Abstract:
This paper studies intergenerational educational mobility among immigrants and descendants in Denmark for cohorts born between 1965 and 1990. At first glance, the data suggests that immigrants experience higher mobility than native Danes, but this pattern is driven by low coverage and poor data quality of parental education information in administrative registers. Among immigrants with the most reliable data, mobility patterns closely resemble those of natives. Auxiliary analyses using representative survey data corroborate this finding. Moreover, including immigrants in population-wide mobility estimates—given their artificially high relative mobility—attenuates trends in estimated mobility, especially for cohorts bornin the 1980s.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18284.pdf
IZA DP No. 18308
Michael A. Clemens:
From Root Causes to Shared Gains: Migration Policy for Low-Income Countries in a Labor-Scarce World
Abstract:
International migration policy for lower-income countries is still guided by assumptions from an earlier era—when less-educated labor was abundant, skilled emigration was seen purely as ‘brain drain,’ and development was expected to reduce migration. That world is gone. This paper reviews recent research on migration policy in the 21st century, when demographic decline is making labor scarce globally, skilled emigration can yield net long- term gains for origin countries, and development often increases migration pressures for generations. The literature shows that migration, managed through innovative institutions, can sustain fiscal systems in aging economies, spur human capital investment at origin, and accelerate structural change. Migration is not a substitute for development, but a catalyst and major opportunity. Policy priorities include regional free-movement regimes, new destination-country partnerships, restructured skill-training systems for a mobile world, and int egrating migration into aid partnerships. Much more research is needed to understand the impacts of these tools.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18308.pdf
IZA DP No. 18312
Santiago Budría, Carlos Martínez de Ibarreta, Alejandro Betancourt-Odio:
Does Host Language Proficiency Among Immigrants Reduce Energy Poverty? Evidence from Australia
Abstract:
Reducing energy poverty is a critical priority for policymakers in both developed and developing nations. Immigrants are often considered a high-risk group due to their heightened vulnerability. While host language proficiency has the potential to mitigate energy poverty among immigrants by enhancing economic integration and facilitating access to essential information and services, its role remains largely unexplored. Using Australian data and addressing endogeneity concerns through a two-stage least-squares (2SLS) approach, this paper presents the first empirical analysis of host language proficiency as a determinant of energy poverty among immigrants. The results show that proficiency in the host language reduces the likelihood of experiencing multidimensional energy poverty by approximately 18.8 percentage points. This effect is partly driven by higher incomes and better access to social assistance among proficient immigrants. The findings underscore the importance of lan guage skills in shaping energy poverty and highlight the need for language education to reduce economic disparities among immigrant populations.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18312.pdf
IZA DP No. 18319
Marco Schmandt, Constantin Tielkes, Felix Weinhardt:
Random Placement but Real Bias
Abstract:
Many studies exploit the random placement of individuals into groups such as schools or regions to estimate the effects of group-level variables on these individuals. Assuming a simple data generating process, we show that the typical estimate contains three components: the causal effect of interest, ”multiple-treatment bias” (MTB), and ”mobility bias” (MB). The extent of these biases depends on the interrelations of group-level variables and onward mobility. We develop a checklist that can be used to assess the relevance of the biases based on observable quantities. We apply this framework to novel administrative data on randomly placed refugees in Germany and confirm empirically that MTB and MB cannot be ignored. The biases can even switch the signs of estimates of popular group-level variables, despite random placement. We discuss implications for the literature and alternative "ideal experiments''.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18319.pdf
IZA DP No. 18321
Kusum Mundra, Omid Bagheri:
H-1B Visa Program, Visa Cap and Foreign Worker Earnings
Abstract:
Using various years of data from the National Survey of College Survey we examine the earnings of work visa immigrants who entered the U.S. during the various H-1B cap periods and whether the cap was binding or not at the time of their entry. For work visa entrants in the non-academic sector as well as from cap bound countries, we find that earning premium relative to college graduate natives ranges between 17%-25% if the immigrants entered the U.S. during the initial period of H-1B and during the later binding cap periods. This premium is lost if immigrants first entered on H-1B during the non-binding period. Compared to pre 1990 work immigrants we find there is a drop in earnings for immigrants who entered on H-1B during the non binding period. This is not seen in the academic sector and for five cap exempt countries, where cap is not relevant. Our findings are driven by the H-1B program involving staffing agencies hiring of low ability workers and workers facing wage suppr ession with limited job mobility. Work visa entrants may also face scarring in the labor market because of lack of U.S. education experience. We do not find this drop in earning for student visa entrants who are admitted by the university selection process.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18321.pdf
Please click here to change your subscription status.
If you have trouble downloading the papers, or for any other questions regarding the IZA Discussion Paper Series, contact public...@iza.org.
IZA Publications
Jan 21, 2026, 10:04:12 AMJan 21
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