Socioeconomic mobility of return migrants: evidence from Jordanian labor market surveys

While the consequences of overseas migration for economic inequalities are well-documented, a relatively less researched aspect is well-being and socio-demographic status of those who chose to return to their country of origin. This paper therefore profiles returnee migrants in the Jordanian labor m...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hlasny, Vladimir, Alazzawi, Shireen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2022
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21386/1/Socioeconomic%20Mobility%20of%20Return%20Migrants%20Evidence%20from%20Jordanian%20Labor.pdf
_version_ 1796933422668578816
author Hlasny, Vladimir
Alazzawi, Shireen
author_facet Hlasny, Vladimir
Alazzawi, Shireen
author_sort Hlasny, Vladimir
collection UKM
description While the consequences of overseas migration for economic inequalities are well-documented, a relatively less researched aspect is well-being and socio-demographic status of those who chose to return to their country of origin. This paper therefore profiles returnee migrants in the Jordanian labor market as well as the causes and consequences of migration for workers’ outcomes using the 2010 and 2016 waves of the Jordanian Labor Market Panel Survey. We study changes in socioeconomic status within and across generations, linking male workers’ current outcomes to those in prior years (across different points in their careers and to their fathers’ outcomes. We assess inter-temporal social mobility as a function of their prior migration experience, socioeconomic status and demographics. In addition, we present regression evidence of how they fare in the labor market in terms of wage returns. Our data show that migration flows evolve o ver time, a nd are d riven b y s ocioeconomic a nd location-specific considerations. More specifically, migration flow from Jordan is geographically highly diffused by regional standards, as Jordanians seek high-skill jobs through formal recruiting channels. Jordanian migrants typically come from urban areas and are more educated. Return migrants are concentrated in higher earning occupations. Altogether this suggests that the labor migration process in Jordan is subject to a selection bias. However, even after controlling for background differences, we find some evidence of beneficial effect of migration for social mobility. Migrants outperform non-migrants not only in terms of current outcomes, but also in their previous occupations as well as those they held 8–10 years earlier, implying that workers’ predispositions may play a role.
first_indexed 2024-03-06T04:46:56Z
format Article
id ukm.eprints-21386
institution Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-06T04:46:56Z
publishDate 2022
publisher Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
record_format dspace
spelling ukm.eprints-213862023-03-27T00:41:29Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21386/ Socioeconomic mobility of return migrants: evidence from Jordanian labor market surveys Hlasny, Vladimir Alazzawi, Shireen While the consequences of overseas migration for economic inequalities are well-documented, a relatively less researched aspect is well-being and socio-demographic status of those who chose to return to their country of origin. This paper therefore profiles returnee migrants in the Jordanian labor market as well as the causes and consequences of migration for workers’ outcomes using the 2010 and 2016 waves of the Jordanian Labor Market Panel Survey. We study changes in socioeconomic status within and across generations, linking male workers’ current outcomes to those in prior years (across different points in their careers and to their fathers’ outcomes. We assess inter-temporal social mobility as a function of their prior migration experience, socioeconomic status and demographics. In addition, we present regression evidence of how they fare in the labor market in terms of wage returns. Our data show that migration flows evolve o ver time, a nd are d riven b y s ocioeconomic a nd location-specific considerations. More specifically, migration flow from Jordan is geographically highly diffused by regional standards, as Jordanians seek high-skill jobs through formal recruiting channels. Jordanian migrants typically come from urban areas and are more educated. Return migrants are concentrated in higher earning occupations. Altogether this suggests that the labor migration process in Jordan is subject to a selection bias. However, even after controlling for background differences, we find some evidence of beneficial effect of migration for social mobility. Migrants outperform non-migrants not only in terms of current outcomes, but also in their previous occupations as well as those they held 8–10 years earlier, implying that workers’ predispositions may play a role. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2022 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21386/1/Socioeconomic%20Mobility%20of%20Return%20Migrants%20Evidence%20from%20Jordanian%20Labor.pdf Hlasny, Vladimir and Alazzawi, Shireen (2022) Socioeconomic mobility of return migrants: evidence from Jordanian labor market surveys. Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, 56 (3). pp. 145-164. ISSN 0127-1962 https://ejournals.ukm.my/jem/
spellingShingle Hlasny, Vladimir
Alazzawi, Shireen
Socioeconomic mobility of return migrants: evidence from Jordanian labor market surveys
title Socioeconomic mobility of return migrants: evidence from Jordanian labor market surveys
title_full Socioeconomic mobility of return migrants: evidence from Jordanian labor market surveys
title_fullStr Socioeconomic mobility of return migrants: evidence from Jordanian labor market surveys
title_full_unstemmed Socioeconomic mobility of return migrants: evidence from Jordanian labor market surveys
title_short Socioeconomic mobility of return migrants: evidence from Jordanian labor market surveys
title_sort socioeconomic mobility of return migrants evidence from jordanian labor market surveys
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21386/1/Socioeconomic%20Mobility%20of%20Return%20Migrants%20Evidence%20from%20Jordanian%20Labor.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT hlasnyvladimir socioeconomicmobilityofreturnmigrantsevidencefromjordanianlabormarketsurveys
AT alazzawishireen socioeconomicmobilityofreturnmigrantsevidencefromjordanianlabormarketsurveys