Three musketeers: A dynamic model of capital inflow (FDI), the real wage rate and the net migration flow with empirical application

This paper develops a time continuous dynamic model of a system of piecewise differential equations to study the simultaneous interactions between capital flows (FDI), the real wage rate and the net migration flow allowing for immigration, return migration and immobility. Theoretically, we claim three contributions: this paper is the first one to recognize the inherent regime shifts in migration due to fixed migration costs, the chance of getting a job and two way migration; for non-zero moving cost, there is usually an infinite number of stationary states; the elasticity of labor demand is an important factor in determining local stability and the global dynamics. Empirically, we apply our model with calibrated Cobb-Douglas production functions to estimate the dynamic adjustment speeds for 16 regions of Guangdong (a fast growing Chinese province with the highest internal migration flow in the emerging world) over 1990-2010. The results of our empirical application indicate that regions in Guangdong are heterogeneous but show positive simultaneous interactions between the three endogenous variables. Some policy implications and further research directions are also suggested.