Purpose: This study aims to consider how migrants may act as channel of diffusion of knowledge which contributes to the dynamics of trade and comparative advantages of EU and MENA countries for the period 1990-2015. Design/methodology/approach: Adopting an IV approach and a gravity framework to instrument for migration, we document how variations in stocks of migrants coming from (in) countries that are already competitive exporters of a given product, impact on the probability that the destination (home) country starts to export competitively new products or succeed in exporting more intensively. Findings: Controlling for potential confounding factors which can be correlated to knowledge flows and productivity shifts, we find that productive knowledge is transferred via migration flows (mostly immigration) between the two areas with trade-promoting effects, testing our hypotheses by different technology classes of products and different specifications. Originality: The contribution of this work to the literature is threefold. First, by providing evidence of international knowledge diffusion induced by migration flows between MENA and EU regions, like no other work before, we document the effects of migration on trade and on changes of comparative advantages. Second, unlike standard literature on migration-trade link, we focus more on long term structural changes of comparative advantage than on trade volumes. Third, we exploit how the effect of migration on margins of trade the effect of migration on margins of trade varies according to different types of goods, classified by technological level.
Migration and Comparative Advantages: new evidence on the EU-MENA Region.
Anna Maria Ferragina
;Stefano Iandolo;
2021-01-01
Abstract
Purpose: This study aims to consider how migrants may act as channel of diffusion of knowledge which contributes to the dynamics of trade and comparative advantages of EU and MENA countries for the period 1990-2015. Design/methodology/approach: Adopting an IV approach and a gravity framework to instrument for migration, we document how variations in stocks of migrants coming from (in) countries that are already competitive exporters of a given product, impact on the probability that the destination (home) country starts to export competitively new products or succeed in exporting more intensively. Findings: Controlling for potential confounding factors which can be correlated to knowledge flows and productivity shifts, we find that productive knowledge is transferred via migration flows (mostly immigration) between the two areas with trade-promoting effects, testing our hypotheses by different technology classes of products and different specifications. Originality: The contribution of this work to the literature is threefold. First, by providing evidence of international knowledge diffusion induced by migration flows between MENA and EU regions, like no other work before, we document the effects of migration on trade and on changes of comparative advantages. Second, unlike standard literature on migration-trade link, we focus more on long term structural changes of comparative advantage than on trade volumes. Third, we exploit how the effect of migration on margins of trade the effect of migration on margins of trade varies according to different types of goods, classified by technological level.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
