A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that people who consider migrating abroad will have either lower years of schooling, or generally have not completed professional schools.

The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 709, 2020

Job Status, International Migration and Educational Choice – Download PDF
by Abdulloev, Ilhom & Epstein, Gil S. & Gang, Ira N.

GLO Fellows Ilhom Abdulloev, Gil Epstein & Ira Gang

• 

• 

• 

Author Abstract: We consider how the possibility of international migration affects an individual’s educational choices in their home country. Without the opportunity to emigrate abroad people choose their educational investment (and hence their skill level) as we might expect, taking into account the utility they derive from the status their attainment bestows. A result of this paper is that if there are low chances of obtaining professional (requires tertiary schooling) jobs in the host country, individuals may well choose an educational track leading to a less-skilled lower status occupational profession in order to increase their chances of obtaining a job in the host country after migration. Thus, all home country students may choose the non-professional education track. Those who might have otherwise pursued higher, professional education may forgo that schooling. The theory developed here explains the forsaken schooling phenomenon, which shows that low-skilled and skilled home country workers are willing to accept low-skilled positions in host countries. This leads to the forgoing of professional schooling in the home country since it is not optimal for the worker in the home country to choose a high skilled education since, they will be overqualified in the host country. This will have a long run affect. As time goes on, therefore, people who consider migrating abroad will have either lower years of schooling, or generally have not completed professional schools (technical-vocational or tertiary).

Featured image: Photo-by-Mikael-Kristenson-on-Unsplash

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers). Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

Ends;