When a random sample is not random: Bounds on the effect of migration on household members left behindNo 1975, Kiel Working Papers from Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel) Abstract: A key problem in the literature on the economics of migration is how emigration of an individual affects households left behind. Answers to this question must confront a problem I refer to as invisible sample selection: when entire households migrate, no information about them remains in their source country. Since estimation is typically based on source country data, invisible sample selection yields biased estimates if all-move households differ from households that send only a subset of their members abroad. I address this identification problem and derive nonparametric bounds within a principal stratification framework. Instrumental variables estimates are biased, even if all-move households do not differ in their potential outcomes. For this case, I derive a corrected instrumental variables estimator. I illustrate the approach using individual and household data from widely cited, recent studies. Potential bias from invisible sample selection can be large, but transparent assumptions regarding behaviors of household members and selectivity of migrants allow identification of informative bounds. Keywords: sample selection; migration; selectivity; principal stratification (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:1975 Access Statistics for this paper More papers in Kiel Working Papers from Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel) Contact information at EDIRC. |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.