This paper investigates the relationship between fiscal performance and movements in the exchange rates, the terms of trade, and other macroeconomic aggregates in 28 sub-Saharan African countries over the 1980-91 period. It finds that the tax base in most of these countries is heavily dependent...

There are two seemingly competing branches of the literature on saving and duration-of-stay decisions of temporary migrants. One relies on the target-saving explanation and the other on utility maximization over a life cycle. We attempt to reconcile the two approaches within a framework where a...

Numerous studies suggest that illegal immigration in the form of bonded labor is becoming an increasingly important phenomenon. This paper develops a model of optimizing behavior of undocumented immigrants who are employed in the host country as bonded laborers while repaying their debts to...

We examine the interaction between policies of the host and source countries in the context of a model of skilled-worker migration. The host country aims to provide low-cost labor for its employers while also taking into consideration the fiscal burden of providing social services to immigrants....

Liquidity constraints represent a major obstacle for potential migrants trying to meet the high cost of undocumented international migration. Some cover it by borrowing from a smuggling organization with a commitment to repay the loan by working in the destination country as bonded laborers....

In a dynamic model of emigration and return migration I examine the role of migration costs in the process of capital accumulation of the source country. Every migration attempt reduces the amount of savings available for capital accumulation. It contributes, however, to an increase in the...

We consider the implications of cooperation with respect to immigration control between a final-destination country (D) and its poorer neighbor (T). Assuming that the latter serves as a transit country for undocumented immigrants, a key question is how much aid should D provide to T for the...

The saving behavior of temporary migrants when the duration of their stay abroad is set by the immigration policy of the host country is studied in this paper. The focus is on the implied flow of savings back to the source country and how it depends on migration costs, duration of the work...