Macroeconomic fluctuations in home countries and immigrants’ well-being: New evidence from Down Under

Nguyen, Ha and Duncan, Alan (2015): Macroeconomic fluctuations in home countries and immigrants’ well-being: New evidence from Down Under.

Abstract

In this paper we provide the first solid empirical evidence that improvements in home countries’ macroeconomic conditions, as measured by a higher GDP per capita or lower price levels, increase immigrants’ subjective well-being. We demonstrate this by using 12 years of data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia panel, as well as macroeconomic indicators for 59 countries of origin, and exploiting exogenous changes in macroeconomic conditions across home countries over time. Controlling for immigrants’ observable and unobservable characteristics we also find the positive GDP impact is statistically significant and economically large in size. Furthermore, the GDP and price impact erodes when immigrants get older, or when they stay in the host country beyond a certain period of time. However, home countries’ unemployment rates and exchange rate fluctuations have no impact on immigrants’ well-being.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: GDP, unemployment, inflation, exchange rate, well-being, immigrants, Australia
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business > F22 - International Migration; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I3 - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty > I31 - General Welfare, Well-Being; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J15 - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants ; Non-labor Discrimination

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