Linguistic distance, i.e. the dissimilarity between languages, is an important factor influencing international economic transactions such as migration or international trade flows by imposing hurdles for second language acquisition and increasing transaction costs. To measure these costs, we...

Linguistic distance, i.e. the dissimilarity between languages, is an important factor influencing international economic transactions such as migration or international trade flows by imposing hurdles for second language acquisition and increasing transaction costs. To measure these costs, we...

Research on the relationship between high-skilled migration and remittances has been limited by the lack of suitable microdata. We create a unique cross-country dataset by combining household surveys from five Sub-Saharan African countries that enables us to analyze the effect of migrants'...

Die Bildungsabschlüsse von MigrantInnen werden typischerweise anhand der im Zielland geltenden Standards eingeordnet. Weniger Beachtung findet dagegen die Stellung, die diese Qualifikationen im jeweiligen Herkunftsland haben. In diesem Beitrag wird die mitgebrachte Bildung verschiedener Gruppen...

We use a newly available measure of linguistic distance developed by the German Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology to explain heterogeneity in language skills of immigrants. This measure is based on an automatical algorithm comparing pronunciation and vocabulary of language...

In den zentralasiatischen Ländern Kirgistan und Tadschikistan müssen viele Erwachsene ihre Familien zeitweilig verlassen, um sich in anderen Regionen oder Ländern einen Arbeitsplatz zu suchen. Die Geldüberweisungen an die Familien stellen in beiden Ländern einen erheblichen wirtschaftlichen...

This study quantifies the disadvantage in the formation of literacy skills of immigrants that arises from the linguistic distance between mother tongue and host country language. Combining unique cross-country data on literacy scores with information on the linguistic distance between languages,...

This study examines the returns to foreign and local language skills of immigrants in the Spanish labor market. Different sources of endogeneity are addressed by deriving a set of novel instruments for language proficiency through a measure of linguistic dissimilarity. Using cross-sectional data...

Schulische und berufliche Qualifikationen spielen eine entscheidende Rolle, wenn es darum geht, Geflüchtete und andere MigrantInnen erfolgreich in die Gesellschaft zu integrieren. Welche Qualifikationen haben MigrantInnen bereits im Herkunftsland erworben, welche in Deutschland? Und in welchem...

This paper examines the purpose of remittances using individual data of migrants in Germany. Particular attention is paid to migrants' savings and transfers to family members in the home country. Our findings indicate that migrants who intend to stay in Germany only temporarily have a higher...