Beine, MichelDocquier, FredericOzden, Caglar2012-03-192012-03-192009-07-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/4176Migration flows are shaped by a complex combination of self-selection and out-selection mechanisms. In this paper, the authors analyze how existing diasporas (the stock of people born in a country and living in another one) affect the size and human-capital structure of current migration flows. The analysis exploits a bilateral data set on international migration by educational attainment from 195 countries to 30 developed countries in 1990 and 2000. Based on simple micro-foundations and controlling for various determinants of migration, the analysis finds that diasporas increase migration flows, lower the average educational level and lead to higher concentration of low-skill migrants. Interestingly, diasporas explain the majority of the variability of migration flows and selection. This suggests that, without changing the generosity of family reunion programs, education-based selection rules are likely to have a moderate impact. The results are highly robust to the econometric techniques, accounting for the large proportion of zeros and endogeneity problems.CC BY 3.0 IGOABUSEADULT POPULATIONASIAN WORKERSBILATERAL IMMIGRATIONBRAIN DRAINCITIZENSCITIZENSHIPCOUNTRY PAIRCOUNTRY PAIRSDETERMINANTS OF MIGRATIONDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDIASPORAECONOMIC MIGRATIONECONOMICS OF IMMIGRATIONEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEMIGRANTSEMIGRATIONEMPIRICAL ANALYSISETHNIC DIVERSITYETHNICITYFAMILIESFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTGENDERGOVERNMENT POLICIESHIGHLY SKILLED WORKERSHOST COUNTRIESHOST COUNTRYHUMAN CAPITALIMMIGRANTIMMIGRANTSIMMIGRATIONIMMIGRATION POLICIESIMMIGRATION POLICYINTERNATIONAL MIGRANTSINTERNATIONAL MIGRATIONINTERNATIONAL TRADELABOR MARKETLABOR MARKETSLEVEL OF EDUCATIONLEVELS OF EDUCATIONMIGRANTMIGRANT DIASPORASMIGRANT STOCKMIGRANTSMIGRATIONMIGRATION COSTSMIGRATION DATAMIGRATION DECISIONSMIGRATION FLOWSMIGRATION POLICIESMIGRATION PROCESSMINORITYMOBILITYNATIONAL BORDERSNATIVE POPULATIONNORTH MIGRATIONNUMBER OF EMIGRANTSNUMBER OF MIGRANTSNUMBER OF PEOPLEPEACEPERCENT OF IMMIGRANTSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOPULATION AND DEVELOPMENTPOPULATION SIZEPOTENTIAL MIGRANTPOTENTIAL MIGRANTSPRIMARY EDUCATIONPROGRESSPUSH FACTORPUSH FACTORSREFUGEEREFUGEESRELIGIONREMITTANCESRESPECTROLE OF MIGRATIONSECONDARY EDUCATIONSELECTIVE IMMIGRATIONSELECTIVE IMMIGRATION POLICYSKILL COMPOSITIONSKILL LEVELSKILL LEVELSSKILLED EMIGRANTSSKILLED MIGRANTSSKILLED MIGRATIONSKILLED PEOPLESKILLED WORKERSSOCIAL EXPENDITURESSOCIAL NETWORKSSOCIAL WELFARESOCIOLOGYTRANSPORTATIONTYPES OF MIGRATIONUNITED NATIONS POPULATION DIVISIONVISASWARWARSWELFARE STATEWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-4984