Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Ran Abramitzky
Author-X-Name-First: Ran	
Author-X-Name-Last: Abramitzky
Author-Email: ranabr@stanford.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: Stanford University
Author-Name: Travis Baseler
Author-X-Name-First: Travis
Author-X-Name-Last: Baseler
Author-Email: travis.baseler@rochester.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: University of Rochester
Author-Name: Isabelle Sin
Author-X-Name-First: Isabelle
Author-X-Name-Last: Sin
Author-Email: isabelle.sin@gmail.com
Author-Workplace-Name: Motu Economic and Public Policy Research
Title: How does persecution affect who migrates? We analyze migrants’ self-selection out of the USSR
and its satellite states before and after the collapse of Communism using census microdata from
the three largest destination countries: Germany, Israel, and the United States. We find that
migrants arriving before and around the time of the collapse (who were more likely to have
moved because of persecution) were more educated and had better labor market outcomes in the
destination than those arriving later. This change is not fully explained by the removal of
emigration restrictions in the Communist Bloc. Instead, we show that this pattern is consistent
with more positive self-selection of migrants who are motivated by persecution. When the highly
educated disproportionately forgo migrating to enjoy the amenities of their home country,
persecution can induce them to leave.
Length: 64 pages
Creation-Date:  2022-07
File-URL: https://motu-www.motu.org.nz/wpapers/22_07.pdf
Number: 22_07
Classification-JEL: F22,J6,N30,N32,N34
Keywords: refugee migration, persecution, migrant selection, Communist Bloc
Handle: RePEc:mtu:wpaper:22_07