Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/72690 
Year of Publication: 
2010
Series/Report no.: 
Reihe Ökonomie / Economics Series No. 247
Publisher: 
Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS), Vienna
Abstract: 
A theory is developed of labor migration that is prompted by a desire to avoid social humiliation. In a general equilibrium framework it is shown that as long as migration can reduce humiliation sufficiently, migration will occur even between two identical economies. Migration increases the number of individuals who choose to perform degrading jobs and consequently, migration lowers the price of the good produced in the sector that is associated with low social status. Moreover, the greater an individual's aversion to performing degrading jobs, the more likely it is that he will experience a welfare gain when the economy opens up.
Subjects: 
migration
social distance
occupational status
social exposure gains
general equilibrium
JEL: 
F22
J61
R23
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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