Simone Bertoli on co-residence patterns of the individuals left behind by the migrants and their analytical implications: evidence from Mexico

Simone Bertoli will present at the WIDER Seminar Series on 18 September 2019. 

Abstract – Co-residence patterns of the individuals left behind by the migrants and their analytical implications: Evidence from Mexico

Co-authors: Elsa Gautrain and Elie Murard 

The occurrence of an international migration episode is often associated with a change in the composition of the household of origin of the migrants. We draw on data from Mexico to show how these variations in co-residence choices have relevant implications for the analysis of the consequences of migration on the individuals left behind. The large-scale survey connected to the 2010 Census, which includes retrospective questions on migration, reveals that the wives and their children left behind by a male migrant very often start co-residing with their parents after the departure of the husband.

These changes in household composition interfere with the ability of the survey to enumerate past migration episodes. This, in turn, entails that the survey misses a large number of women and children left behind by the migrants, which differ along relevant observable characteristics from those that are captured in the data.

About the speaker

Simone Bertoli is Professor of Economics at CERDI, Université Clermont Auvergne, since September 2016, and he is currently a junior member of the Insitut Universitaire de France; he had joined the University of Auvergne as an assistant professor with a joint chair with the CNRS in September 2011 after working at the IAB and EUI. 

He received his Ph. D. in Development Economics from the University of Florence in 2007. His main research interests include international migration, economic development and labor economics. His current research activities focus on the theoretical and empirical study of the determinants of international migration and on the economic effects produced by migration on origin countries. 

WIDER Seminar Series

The WIDER Seminar Series showcases recent and ongoing work on key topics in development economics. The weekly sessions held in Helsinki are open to local and visiting researchers, policy makers, and others interested in development topics. Click here to learn more.

Seminars will be live streamed on Facebook and recordings and presentations will be available after the event here.

For more information email richardson@wider.unu.edu