The role of amenities in the flow of migrants has been debated for some years. This paperadvances an original model of amenities that work through household production instead ofdirectly through the utility function. Area characteristics (amenities) affect householdproduction, causing certain...

Persistent productivity gains to rural-urban migrants have been documented by a number ofresearchers. One interpretation of this result is that individuals learn higher value skills incities than they would have learned in less dense areas. Another explanation for this result,however, is that...

In this paper we survey the recent developments in two empirical literatures at the crossroadsof labor and urban economics: Studies about localized human capital externalities (HCE) andabout the urban wage premium (UWP). After surveying the methods and main results of eachof these two...

As China exhibited unprecedented rapid economic growth ever since its reform andopenness, the development and sources of labor productivity has gradually come to theforefront. This paper studies the development and the source of labor productivity in 31Chinese provinces during the period of...

What is the impact of joining the European Union on a small, less developed economy? This is the generalquestion driving this research paper. In particular, the role of factor movements in explaining real wagebehavior in Portugal after its entry in the European Union (EU) is quantitatively...

This paper examines the relationship between the brain drain and country size, as well as the extent of small states overall loss of human capital. We find that small states are the main losers because they i) lose a larger proportion of their skilled labor force and ii) exhibit stronger...

With a foreigner share of almost 20 percent and a traditionally tight labourmarket, Switzerland has evolved into an immigration country against its own intention. In thepast, many low-qualified workers originally recruited on a temporary basis were allowed tosettle in Switzerland. This approach...

This paper analyses the impact of a change in Australia’s immigration policy, introduced inthe mid-1990s, on migrants’ probability of becoming entrepreneurs. The policy changeconsists of stricter entry requirements and restrictions to welfare entitlements. The resultsindicate that those who...