Elisabetta Lodigiani

Migration-Induced Transfers of Norms. The Case of Female Political Empowerment

It is recognized that affirmative action, as anti-discriminatory policies whose aim is to benefit an underrepresented group, is a key driver of progress for women. However, the role of migrants in helping female voice from abroad has not been addressed yet. This paper empirically investigates the effect of international migration on the parliamentary participation of women left behind following the brand new strand of literature on ‘transfers of norms’. Panel data from 1960 to 2000 allows us to take into account selection due to women’s eligibility, observed and unobserved heterogeneity. After having controlled for traditional political and non political factors, we show that total international migration to countries with higher female political empowerment significantly increases the female parliamentary shares in sending countries

Attracting Skilled Immigrants: An Overview of Recent Policy Developments in Advanced Countries

In this paper we review the policies put in place by the main Western destination countries to attract highly skilled migrants. Two main systems can be identified. On the one hand, employer-driven schemes typically call for the migrant to meet a set of minimum skill requirements and to have a job offer before a work visa can be issued. On the other, migrant-driven schemes typically do not require a job offer, and instead select the migrant based on a set of characteristics chosen by the policymaker. Employer-driven schemes are the dominant policy tool in the sample of countries we consider in the analysis, and only Australia, Canada and New Zealand have made migrant-driven schemes the mainstay of their skill selective immigration policy. The preliminary evidence we review suggests that the latter are more effective in increasing the skill level of the immigrant population, and casts doubts on the usefulness of new initiatives like the EU blue card that are still based on an employer-driven system.

Impact of Low‐Skilled Immigration on Female Labour Supply

In this paper, segmenting the market by educational levels, we investigate which native-born women are more affected by an increase of low-skilled immigrants working in the household service sector. We present a model of individual choice with home production and, using a harmonized dataset (the Cross-National Equivalent File), we estimate its main comparative static results. The results suggest that the share of immigrants working in services is positively associated with an increase of native-born womens labour supply at the intensive margin, if skilled, and at the extensive margin, if unskilled. Moreover, the results show that these effects are larger in countries with less-supportive family policies.

Revisiting the Brain Drain Literature with Insights from a Dynamic General Equilibrium World Model

The existing brain drain literature has found various mechanisms through which the high‐skilled South‐to‐North migration affects developing economies. However, some of the new‐found effects remain disputable due to limited evidence. This study aims to provide suggestive guidelines for future research by identifying the mechanisms that can generate larger economic impacts at the aggregate. The analysis is based on a dynamic general equilibrium world model that is calibrated to published statistics and incorporates empirical estimates on the effects of brain drain. It simulates short‐ and long‐run impacts of increased brain drain on GDP per capita, GNI per capita, and income inequality. The results suggest that more studies should be conducted to further examine how the brain drain influences human capital formation and technology spillovers. Both have significant impacts on domestic production and national income. A better understanding of different remitting patterns is also desirable to understand how to reduce inequality and promote recipients’ investment in productive assets.