This setting lets you change the way you view articles. You can choose to have articles open in a dialog window, a new tab, or directly in the same window.
Open in Dialog
Open in New Tab
Open in same window
Open in New Tab
Open in same window
Journal of Economic Perspectives: Vol. 25 No. 3 (Summer 2011)
JEP Volume. 25, Issue 3 | 
Previous ArticleNext Article
Sign up for Email Alerts Follow us on Twitter
Full-text Article (Complimentary)
View Comments on This Article (1) | Login to post a comment
Previous ArticleNext Article
Expand
Quick Tools:
Print Article Summary Email Link to this Article Export CitationSign up for Email Alerts Follow us on Twitter
Explore:
Economics and Emigration: Trillion-Dollar Bills on the Sidewalk?
Article Citation
Clemens, Michael A. 2011. "Economics and Emigration: Trillion-Dollar Bills on the Sidewalk?."
Journal of Economic Perspectives,
25(3): 83-106.
DOI: 10.1257/jep.25.3.83
DOI: 10.1257/jep.25.3.83
Abstract
What is the greatest single class of distortions in the global economy? One contender for this title is the tightly binding constraints on emigration from poor countries. Vast numbers of people in low-income countries want to emigrate from those countries but cannot. How large are the economic losses caused by barriers to emigration? Research on this question has been distinguished by its rarity and obscurity, but the few estimates we have should make economists' jaws hit their desks. The gains to eliminating migration barriers amount to large fractions of world GDP—one or two orders of magnitude larger than the gains from dropping all remaining restrictions on international flows of goods and capital. When it comes to policies that restrict emigration, there appear to be trillion-dollar bills on the sidewalk.
Article Full-Text Access
Full-text Article (Complimentary)
Authors
Clemens, Michael A. (Center for Global Development, Washington, DC)
JEL Classifications
F02: International Economic Order
F22: International Migration
J11: Demographic Trends and Forecasts; General Migration
F22: International Migration
J11: Demographic Trends and Forecasts; General Migration
Comments
View Comments on This Article (1) | Login to post a comment
Posted By: ANUPAM TYAGI
Date: 2011-10-05 04:49:02
This is a very innovative line of research on an important issue. There has been much discussion about globalization and gains from trade, and factor price equilization theorems. That economic convergence is eluding, and as experience shows it may actaully depend on the type of movement you write about. Could China have worked without expatriate Chinese, or for that matter India, or Russia, or Ireland, Israel, and others? This fits in right there in the debate. Congratulations, for what is likely to become a very well cited paper.