The Selection of High-Skilled Emigrants

Matthias Parey; Jens Ruhose; Fabian Waldinger; Nicolai Netz

doi:10.1162/rest_a_00687

The Selection of High-Skilled Emigrants

Matthias Parey¹; Jens Ruhose²; Fabian Waldinger³; Nicolai Netz⁴

¹ University of Essex and Institute for Fiscal Studies · ² Leibniz Universität Hannover · ³ London School of Economics · ⁴ DZHW

The Review of Economics and Statistics 2017 open access

We measure selection among high-skilled emigrants from Germany using predicted earnings. Migrants to less equal countries are positively selected relative to nonmigrants, while migrants to more equal countries are negatively selected, consistent with the prediction in Borjas (1987). Positive selection to less equal countries reflects university quality and grades, and negative selection to more equal countries reflects university subject and gender. Migrants to the United States are highly positively selected and concentrated in STEM fields. Our results highlight the relevance of the Borjas model for high-skilled individuals when credit constraints and other migration barriers are unlikely to be binding.

DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_00687
Volume: 99 (5)
Pages: 776-792
Language: en
Export: BibTeX
Sources: openalex crossref