Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GLAM (Global South Migration and Comparative Integration: A Study of South American Migrants)
Période du rapport: 2021-09-06 au 2023-09-05
What is the impact of migration on migrants and their children’s life chances? Are their opportunities equal to those of local populations at destination? Do they improve with respect to non-migrants in origin countries? These questions are at the heart of migration studies. Yet, our answers to them are partial because, first, most empirical and theoretical work on migrant integration focuses on South-North migration, even though that comprises only a third of total international migration flows. Second, studies on migrant integration are often focused on comparing migrants with local populations at destination. They hence fail to capture the counterfactual of what might have happened in the absence of migration or if the migrant had moved elsewhere.
GLAM builds on my research and expertise on migrant integration in the Global North to address these lacunae. GLAM is guided by three research questions: Q1. How are integration patterns of southern migrants and their children in the Global South? Q2. Do integration patterns of southern migrants and their children in the Global South differ with respect to those of their counterparts in the Global North, and does migrant selection play a role in this? And Q3. What gains (or loses) do southern migrants and their children in Southern and Northern destinations experience with respect to non-migrants in origin countries? GLAM is specifically concerned with socioeconomic integration, measured in terms of educational and labour market achievements. Socioeconomic integration is one of the most important outcomes of integration, as is fundamental for individuals’ long-term life chances and opportunities for social mobility.
The project focuses on migration waves originating in South America, a region where approximately 70 per cent of immigration is intra-regional. GLAM consists, first, of an in-depth single case study of the main migrant receiving country in South America: Argentina. The second part of the project is a multisite study. I compare the socioeconomic integration of two selected groups (Peruvian and Bolivian) in three locations where they mostly reside: the Global South (Argentina), the Global North (Spain and Italy), and their origin countries. Both the case study and the multisite study use a mixture of very rich (national and cross-national) individual, household and neighbourhood census data.
GLAM builds on my research and expertise on migrant integration in the Global North to address these lacunae. GLAM is guided by three research questions: Q1. How are integration patterns of southern migrants and their children in the Global South? Q2. Do integration patterns of southern migrants and their children in the Global South differ with respect to those of their counterparts in the Global North, and does migrant selection play a role in this? And Q3. What gains (or loses) do southern migrants and their children in Southern and Northern destinations experience with respect to non-migrants in origin countries? GLAM is specifically concerned with socioeconomic integration, measured in terms of educational and labour market achievements. Socioeconomic integration is one of the most important outcomes of integration, as is fundamental for individuals’ long-term life chances and opportunities for social mobility.
The project focuses on migration waves originating in South America, a region where approximately 70 per cent of immigration is intra-regional. GLAM consists, first, of an in-depth single case study of the main migrant receiving country in South America: Argentina. The second part of the project is a multisite study. I compare the socioeconomic integration of two selected groups (Peruvian and Bolivian) in three locations where they mostly reside: the Global South (Argentina), the Global North (Spain and Italy), and their origin countries. Both the case study and the multisite study use a mixture of very rich (national and cross-national) individual, household and neighbourhood census data.
During the first two years I carried out activities in three main areas: research, dissemination & networking, and development of transferrable skills.
Research activities included literature review—for which I received help from three junior scholars interested in the project (Francesca Ferlicca, Melina Ibarra and Bianca Converso)— data analysis, and writing of papers. Initially, I explored key South American emigration flows with migrant stock data from the United Nations Population Division. With the help of census microdata, I also did preliminary analyses of migrant selection patterns. The US, Europe and South America, are the three key destinations of South American migrants. In Europe the South American population is much more feminized than the South American population who emigrated within South America. I also find that, on average, the educational levels of Bolivians in Argentina are very similar to those of Bolivians in Bolivia, while in Spain Bolivians are, on average, much more educated than non-migrants (i.e. they are positively selected). The case of Peruvians is different though: Peruvian migrants are positively selected both in Argentina and in Spain. Next, I focused the attention to immigration in Argentina and integration patterns. A first analysis was related with the educational outcomes of the children of migrants, done with IPUMS data and additional census microdata from Argentina. Through the study of various indicators of access to education & educational attainment, I found that migrant-origin individuals (especially from Bolivia and Paraguay) do better than Argentine-origin individuals, but only among those who have parents with low education. For those with parents with higher education, there is either equal achievements or a disadvantage for the children of migrants. Third, I have started to analyse data for the multisite part of the project. At the moment I am finishing a paper that studies educational outcomes of the children of Bolivian migrants, in comparison with the children of native Argentines and with non-migrants in Bolivia. Focusing on one migrant group and two countries has allowed me to reflect more on how to make interesting comparisons, and how to measure the impact of migration. I find that access and completion of secondary education is more restricted in Argentina than in Bolivia, especially after 2010. This means that, although Bolivian-origin individuals do better than their Argentinean counterparts, they are disadvantaged with respect to non-migrants in Bolivia. I have also started to explore labour market outcomes, for the same group. Preliminary analyses, where I look at occupational outcomes, show that Bolivian migrants in Spain get lower returns to education than their counterparts in Argentina, and also than their counterpart native populations in Argentina, Spain and Bolivia.
As for dissemination and networking, I have participated in several conferences and seminars in Argentina and in other South American countries, where I was able to enrich and extend my network. I am also organizing a hybrid conference in Bolzano (to be held on November 9, 2023) with both academics and policy makers (see details in project website).
As for development of transferrable skills, finally, I developed a syllabus for a master course at UC3M, which I then partly replicated at UNSAM. I have also supervised two master students and mentored two undergrad students in Argentina. I have also been learning how to manage a research budget and how to better use resources for different types of activities.
Research activities included literature review—for which I received help from three junior scholars interested in the project (Francesca Ferlicca, Melina Ibarra and Bianca Converso)— data analysis, and writing of papers. Initially, I explored key South American emigration flows with migrant stock data from the United Nations Population Division. With the help of census microdata, I also did preliminary analyses of migrant selection patterns. The US, Europe and South America, are the three key destinations of South American migrants. In Europe the South American population is much more feminized than the South American population who emigrated within South America. I also find that, on average, the educational levels of Bolivians in Argentina are very similar to those of Bolivians in Bolivia, while in Spain Bolivians are, on average, much more educated than non-migrants (i.e. they are positively selected). The case of Peruvians is different though: Peruvian migrants are positively selected both in Argentina and in Spain. Next, I focused the attention to immigration in Argentina and integration patterns. A first analysis was related with the educational outcomes of the children of migrants, done with IPUMS data and additional census microdata from Argentina. Through the study of various indicators of access to education & educational attainment, I found that migrant-origin individuals (especially from Bolivia and Paraguay) do better than Argentine-origin individuals, but only among those who have parents with low education. For those with parents with higher education, there is either equal achievements or a disadvantage for the children of migrants. Third, I have started to analyse data for the multisite part of the project. At the moment I am finishing a paper that studies educational outcomes of the children of Bolivian migrants, in comparison with the children of native Argentines and with non-migrants in Bolivia. Focusing on one migrant group and two countries has allowed me to reflect more on how to make interesting comparisons, and how to measure the impact of migration. I find that access and completion of secondary education is more restricted in Argentina than in Bolivia, especially after 2010. This means that, although Bolivian-origin individuals do better than their Argentinean counterparts, they are disadvantaged with respect to non-migrants in Bolivia. I have also started to explore labour market outcomes, for the same group. Preliminary analyses, where I look at occupational outcomes, show that Bolivian migrants in Spain get lower returns to education than their counterparts in Argentina, and also than their counterpart native populations in Argentina, Spain and Bolivia.
As for dissemination and networking, I have participated in several conferences and seminars in Argentina and in other South American countries, where I was able to enrich and extend my network. I am also organizing a hybrid conference in Bolzano (to be held on November 9, 2023) with both academics and policy makers (see details in project website).
As for development of transferrable skills, finally, I developed a syllabus for a master course at UC3M, which I then partly replicated at UNSAM. I have also supervised two master students and mentored two undergrad students in Argentina. I have also been learning how to manage a research budget and how to better use resources for different types of activities.
The project has made several important contributions so far. I think one of the most important ones is the empirical evidence showing that migrant-origin individuals in destination countries not always perform worse than the majoritarian “native” population, as many public debates often emphasize. Migrants are resilient populations, and they migrate to search a better life for themselves and for their children. It is therefore no surprise that they can sometimes surpass the “natives”. At the same time, and equally important, migration can also disrupt the intergenerational transmission of cultural and economic capital, among those who possess it, and this is something that needs to be considered in integration processes. A third point is that migrating can have mixed consequences for migrants and their children. A key aspect highlighted by my research is that it is important to have a long-term perspective when studying the outcomes of migration, that looks not only at first generation migrants (those who leave) but also their children and even grandchildren. While things might be more difficult for those who leave, their children might be the ones that most benefit from the move.