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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