Miserable Migrants? Natural Experiment Evidence on International Migration and Objective and Subjective Well-Being. (January 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Stillman, Steven; Gibson, John; McKenzie, David; Rohorua, Halahingano
• Is Part Of: World development. Volume 65(2015)
• Page Start: 79
• Page End: 93
• Publication Date: 2015-01
• Subjects: immigration -- lottery -- natural experiment -- subjective well-being -- Tonga -- Pacific Islands; Economic history -- 1990- -- Periodicals; Economic assistance -- Developing countries -- Periodicals; 330.9
• DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.07.003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-750X

Abstract

Summary: We compare successful and unsuccessful applicants to a migration lottery in order to examine the impact of migration on objective and subjective well-being. The results show that international migration brings large improvements in objective well-being. Impacts on subjective well-being are complex, with mental health improving but happiness declining, self-rated welfare rising if viewed retrospectively but static if viewed experimentally, self-rated social respect rising retrospectively but falling experimentally and subjective income adequacy rising. We further show that these changes would not be predicted from cross-sectional regressions on the correlates of subjective well-being in either Tonga or New Zealand.