South-South migration and the labor market: evidence from South Africa

Biavaschi, Costanza; Facchini, Giovanni; Mayda, Anna Maria; Mendola, Mariapia

Abstract

Using census data for 1996, 2001 and 2007 we study the labor market effect of immigration to South Africa. We exploit the variation – both at the district and at the national level –in the share of foreign–born male workers across schooling and experience groups over time. In addition, we use an instrumental variable empirical strategy to estimate the causal effect of immigration on the local labor market. At the district level, we show that increased immigration has a negative and significant effect on natives’ employment rates but not on total income. At the national level, we find that increased immigration has a negative and significant effect on natives’ total income but not on employment rates. Our results are consistent with outflows of natives to other districts as a consequence of migration, as in Borjas (2006).

Citation

Biavaschi, C., Facchini, G., Mayda, A. M., & Mendola, M. (2018). South-South migration and the labor market: evidence from South Africa. Journal of Economic Geography, 18(4), 823-853. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lby010

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 19, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Apr 5, 2018
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2018
• Deposit Date: Mar 29, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 6, 2020
• Journal: Journal of Economic Geography
• Print ISSN: 1468-2702
• Electronic ISSN: 1468-2710
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 18
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 823-853
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lby010
• Keywords: Immigration, labor market effects, South Africa
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/943163
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/joeg/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jeg/lby010/4962130
• Additional Information: This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Economic Geography following peer review. The version of record Costanza Biavaschi, Giovanni Facchini, Anna Maria Mayda, Mariapia Mendola; South–South migration and the labor market: evidence from South Africa, Journal of Economic Geography, , lby010, https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lby010 is available online at:https://academic.oup.com/joeg/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jeg/lby010/4962130