Migration Policy and Labor Market Integration

We experimentally study economic migrants’ willingness to relocate to, and take up work in, the destination country, and, in turn, destination country citizens’ willingness to allow economic migrants to relocate to and pursue formal work in their country. In doing so, we focus on economic migrants coming from less developed countries and citizens of more developed destination countries. We find clear evidence for a reciprocal relationship between the individuals in these roles. The labor market participation of economic migrants co- moves with destination countries’ openness to welcoming them. However, open migration policies without the threat of facing restrictive policies reduce migrants’ willingness to work. At the same time, while the existence of such a threat gets migrants to work, the actual implementation of restrictive policies has the same effects as open migration policies. We conclude that supporting economic migrants in early labor market attachment is crucial to support mutually beneficial co-existence in society