Publication:
Migration and Mental Health : Evidence from a Natural Experiment
dc.contributor.author | Stillman, Steven | |
dc.contributor.author | McKenzie, David | |
dc.contributor.author | Gibson, John | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2012-06-05T20:19:15Z | |
dc.date.available | 2012-06-05T20:19:15Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2007-02 | |
dc.description.abstract | People migrate to improve their well-being, whether through an expansion of economic and social opportunities or a reduction in persecution. Yet a large literature suggests that migration can be a stressful process, with potentially negative impacts on mental health, reducing the net benefits of migration. However, to truly understand the effect of migration on mental health one must compare the mental health of migrants to what their mental health would have been had they stayed in their home country. The existing literature is not able to do this and typically settles for comparing the mental health of migrants to that of natives in the destination country, which takes no account of any pre-existing differences between these groups. This paper overcomes the selection problems affecting previous studies of the effect of migration on mental health by examining a migrant lottery program. New Zealand allows a quota of Tongans to immigrate each year with a lottery used to choose among the excess number of applicants. A unique survey conducted by the authors in these two countries allows experimental estimates of the mental health effects of migration to be obtained by comparing the mental health of migrants who were successful applicants in the lottery to the mental health of those who applied to migrate under the quota, but whose names were not drawn in the lottery. Migration is found to lead to improvements in mental health, particularly for women and those with poor mental health in their home country. | en |
dc.identifier | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/02/7396776/migration-mental-health-evidence-natural-experiment | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7178 | |
dc.language | English | |
dc.publisher | World Bank, Washington, DC | |
dc.relation.ispartofseries | Policy Research Working Paper; No. 4138 | |
dc.rights | CC BY 3.0 IGO | |
dc.rights.holder | World Bank | |
dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ | |
dc.subject | ADD | |
dc.subject | AFFECTIVE DISORDERS | |
dc.subject | AGED | |
dc.subject | ANXIETY | |
dc.subject | ANXIETY DISORDERS | |
dc.subject | ASYLUM | |
dc.subject | BENEFITS OF MIGRATION | |
dc.subject | CITIZENS | |
dc.subject | COMMON MENTAL DISORDERS | |
dc.subject | CONSEQUENCES OF MIGRATION | |
dc.subject | CULTURAL PRACTICES | |
dc.subject | DEPRESSION | |
dc.subject | DIABETES | |
dc.subject | DISCRIMINATION | |
dc.subject | DROPOUT | |
dc.subject | ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES | |
dc.subject | EMOTIONAL DISORDERS | |
dc.subject | EMOTIONAL DISTRESS | |
dc.subject | FAMILIES | |
dc.subject | FAMILY MEMBERS | |
dc.subject | FEMALE MIGRANTS | |
dc.subject | FEMALES | |
dc.subject | HEALTH BEHAVIOR | |
dc.subject | HEALTH CARE | |
dc.subject | HEALTH CONSEQUENCES | |
dc.subject | HEALTH EFFECTS | |
dc.subject | HEALTH FACILITIES | |
dc.subject | HEALTH PROBLEMS | |
dc.subject | HOMELAND SECURITY | |
dc.subject | HOSPITAL | |
dc.subject | HOSPITAL ADMISSION | |
dc.subject | HOUSEHOLD INCOME | |
dc.subject | HUSBANDS | |
dc.subject | HYPERTENSION | |
dc.subject | IMMIGRANT | |
dc.subject | IMMIGRANTS | |
dc.subject | IMMIGRATION | |
dc.subject | IMMIGRATION POLICY | |
dc.subject | IMPACT OF MIGRATION | |
dc.subject | INSOMNIA | |
dc.subject | INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION | |
dc.subject | LABOR MARKET | |
dc.subject | LABOR SUPPLY | |
dc.subject | LABOUR FORCE | |
dc.subject | LIFE ASSESSMENT | |
dc.subject | MAJOR DEPRESSION | |
dc.subject | MARITAL STATUS | |
dc.subject | MENTAL | |
dc.subject | MENTAL DISORDER | |
dc.subject | MENTAL DISTRESS | |
dc.subject | MENTAL HEALTH | |
dc.subject | MENTAL HEALTH CONSEQUENCES | |
dc.subject | MENTAL HEALTH EFFECTS | |
dc.subject | MENTAL HEALTH NEED | |
dc.subject | MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS | |
dc.subject | MENTAL HEALTH STATUS | |
dc.subject | MIGRANT | |
dc.subject | MIGRANTS | |
dc.subject | MIGRATION | |
dc.subject | MIGRATION PROCESS | |
dc.subject | MINISTRY OF HEALTH | |
dc.subject | MOOD | |
dc.subject | MOOD DISORDERS | |
dc.subject | PACIFIC ISLANDS | |
dc.subject | PHYSICAL HEALTH | |
dc.subject | POLICY RESEARCH | |
dc.subject | POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER | |
dc.subject | POTENTIAL MIGRANTS | |
dc.subject | PROGRESS | |
dc.subject | PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS | |
dc.subject | PSYCHOSOMATIC SYMPTOMS | |
dc.subject | PUBLIC POLICY | |
dc.subject | PUBLIC SERVICES | |
dc.subject | QUALITY OF LIFE | |
dc.subject | REFUGEE | |
dc.subject | REFUGEES | |
dc.subject | REPATRIATION | |
dc.subject | RETURNEES | |
dc.subject | RISK FACTORS | |
dc.subject | SCHIZOPHRENIA | |
dc.subject | SCHOOL AGE | |
dc.subject | SCREENING | |
dc.subject | SEX | |
dc.subject | SKILLED MIGRANTS | |
dc.subject | SMOKERS | |
dc.subject | SMOKING | |
dc.subject | SOCIAL OPPORTUNITIES | |
dc.subject | SOMATIC SYMPTOM | |
dc.subject | SPOUSE | |
dc.subject | SYMPTOMS | |
dc.subject | TREATMENT | |
dc.subject | UNEMPLOYMENT | |
dc.subject | WORKING CLASS | |
dc.subject | WORKPLACE | |
dc.subject | YOUTH | |
dc.title | Migration and Mental Health : Evidence from a Natural Experiment | en |
dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
okr.crosscuttingsolutionarea | Gender | |
okr.doctype | Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper | |
okr.doctype | Publications & Research | |
okr.docurl | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/02/7396776/migration-mental-health-evidence-natural-experiment | |
okr.globalpractice | Health, Nutrition, and Population | |
okr.identifier.doi | 10.1596/1813-9450-4138 | |
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum | 000016406_20070216094607 | |
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum | 7396776 | |
okr.identifier.report | WPS4138 | |
okr.language.supported | en | |
okr.pdfurl | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2007/02/16/000016406_20070216094607/Rendered/PDF/wps4138.pdf | en |
okr.region.administrative | East Asia and Pacific | |
okr.region.country | New Zealand | |
okr.region.country | Tonga | |
okr.topic | Health Monitoring and Evaluation | |
okr.topic | Health, Nutrition and Population :: Mental Health | |
okr.topic | Health, Nutrition and Population :: Population Policies | |
okr.topic | Disease Control and Prevention | |
okr.topic | Gender :: Gender and Health | |
okr.unit | Development Research Group (DECRG) | |
okr.volume | 1 of 1 | |
relation.isAuthorOfPublication | 148d6d6d-76e5-5d6f-9af9-98313e30551f | |
relation.isSeriesOfPublication | 26e071dc-b0bf-409c-b982-df2970295c87 |
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