Journal of Economic Growth

, Volume 21, Issue 2, pp 101–138

Birthplace diversity and economic prosperity

Article
First Online:

Abstract

We propose an index of population diversity based on people’s birthplaces and decompose it into a size (share of immigrants) and a variety (diversity of immigrants) component. We show that birthplace diversity is largely uncorrelated with ethnic, linguistic or genetic diversity and that the diversity of immigrants relates positively to measures of economic prosperity. This holds especially for skilled immigrants in richer countries at intermediate levels of cultural proximity. We address endogeneity by specifying a pseudo-gravity model predicting the size and diversity of immigration. The results are robust across specifications and suggestive of skill-complementarities between immigrants and native workers.

Keywords

Birthplace diversity Immigration Culture Economic development 

JEL Classification

O1 O4 F22 F43 

Supplementary material

10887_2016_9127_MOESM1_ESM.zip (2.2 mb)
Supplementary material 1 (zip 2270 KB)
10887_2016_9127_MOESM2_ESM.docx (1.6 mb)
Supplementary material 2 (docx 1621 KB)

References

  1. Abramitzky, R., Boustan, L., & Eriksson, K. (2012). Europe’s tired, poor, huddled masses: Self-selection and economic outcomes in the age of mass migration. American Economic Review, 102(5), 1832–1856.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Abramitzky, R., Boustan, L., & Eriksson, K. (2013). Have the poor always been less likely to migrate? Evidence from inheritance practices during the age of mass migration. Journal of Development Economics, 102, 2–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., & Robinson, J. (2001). The colonial origins of comparative development: An empirical investigation. American Economic Review, 91(5), 1369–1401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Ager, P., & Brückner, M. (2013). Cultural diversity and economic growth: Evidence from the US during the age of mass migration. European Economic Review, 64, 76–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Alesina, A., Baqir, R., & Easterly, W. (1999). Public goods and ethnic divisions. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 114(4), 1243–1284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Alesina, A., Devleeschauwer, A., Easterly, W., Kurlat, S., & Wacziarg, R. (2003). Fractionalization. Journal of Economic Growth, 8(2), 155–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Alesina, A., & La Ferrara, E. (2000). Participation in heterogeneous communities. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115(3), 847–904.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Alesina, A., & La Ferrara, E. (2002). Who trusts others? Journal of Public Economics, 85(2), 207–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Alesina, A., & La Ferrara, E. (2005). Ethnic diversity and economic performance. Journal of Economic Literature, 43(3), 762–800.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Alesina, A., Michalopoulos, S., & Papaioannou, E. (Forthcoming). Ethnic inequality. Journal of Political Economy.Google Scholar
  11. Alesina, A., Spolaore, E., & Wacziarg, R. (2000). Economic integration and political disintegration. American Economic Review, 90(5), 1276–1296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Alesina, A., & Zhuravskaya, E. (2011). Segregation and the quality of government in a cross section of countries. American Economic Review, 101(5), 1872–1911.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Andersen, T., & Dalgaard, C.-J. (2011). Flows of people, flows of ideas, and the inequality of nations. Journal of Economic Growth, 16(1), 1–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Anderson, J., & Van Wincoop, E. (2003). Gravity and gravitas: A solution to the border puzzle. American Economic Review, 93(1), 170–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Arbatli, C., Ashraf, Q., Galor, O. (2015). The nature of conflict. NBER Working Paper No. 21079.Google Scholar
  16. Artuc, E., Docquier, F., Özden, C., & Parsons, C. (2015). A global assessment of human capital mobility: The role of non-OECD destinations. World Development, 65, 6–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Ashraf, Q., & Galor, O. (2011). Cultural diversity, geographical isolation, and the origin of the wealth of nations. NBER Working Paper No. 17640.Google Scholar
  18. Ashraf, Q., & Galor, O. (2013a). The out of Africa hypothesis, human genetic diversity and comparative economic development. American Economic Review, 103(1), 1–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Ashraf, Q., & Galor, O. (2013b). Genetic diversity and the origins of cultural fragmentation. American Economic Review, 103(3), 528–533.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Bandiera, O., Rasul, I., & Viarengo, M. (2013). The making of modern America: Migratory flows in the age of mass migration. Journal of Development Economics, 102(May), 23–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Barro, R., & Lee, J. (2013). A new data set of educational attainment in the world, 1950–2010. Journal of Development Economics, 104, 184–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Beine, M., Docquier, F., & Rapoport, H. (2007). Measuring international skilled migration: New estimates controlling for age of entry. World Bank Economic Review, 21, 249–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Beine, M., Docquier, F., & Özden, C. (2011). Diasporas. Journal of Development Economics, 95(1), 30–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Beine, M., Docquier, F., & Schiff, M. (2013). Migration, transfer of norms and home country fertility. Canadian Journal of Economics, 46(4), 1406–1430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Bellini, E., Ottaviano, G., Pinelli, D., & Prarolo, G. (2013). Cultural diversity and economic performance: Evidence from European regions. In R. Crescenzi & R. Percoco (Eds.), Geography, institutions and regional economic performance, advances in spatial science (pp. 121–141). Berlin and Heidelberg: Springer Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Bertoli, S. (2010). Networks, sorting and self-selection of ecuadorian migrants. Annales d’Economie et de Statistique, 97–98, 261–288.Google Scholar
  27. Bertoli, S., & Fernández-Huertas Moraga, J. (2013). Multilateral resistance to migration. Journal of Development Economics, 102, 79–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Boeheim, R., Horvath, G., Mayr, K. (2012). Birthplace diversity of the workforce and productivity spill-overs in firms. WIFO Working Papers No. 438.Google Scholar
  29. Brunow, S., Trax, M., & Suedekum, J. (2015). Cultural diversity and plant-level productivity. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 53, 85–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Cavalli-Sforza, L. L., Menozzi, P., & Piazza, A. (1994). The history and geography of human genes. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
  31. Collier, P. (1999). On the economic consequences of civil war. Oxford Economic Papers, 51, 168–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. Collier, P. (2001). Ethnic diversity: An economic analysis of its implications. Economic Policy, 32, 129–166.Google Scholar
  33. Desmet, K., Ortuño-Ortín, I., & Wacziarg, R. (2012). The political economy of ethnolinguistic cleavages. Journal of Development Economics, 97(2), 322–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  34. Docquier, F., & Rapoport, H. (2012). Globalization, brain drain and development. Journal of Economic Literature, 50(3), 681–730.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Easterly, W., & Levine, R. (1997). Africa’s growth tragedy: Policies and ethnic divisions. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112(4), 1203–1250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  36. Espinova, N., Ray, J., & Srinivasan, R. (2011). The world’s potential migrants. Gallup. Retrieved from, www.imi.ox.ac.uk/pdfs/the-worlds-potential-migrants. Accessed 23 March 2015.
  37. Esteban, J., & Ray, E. (1994). On the measurement of polarization. Econometrica, 62(4), 819–851.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  38. Esteban, J., & Ray, E. (2011). Linking conflict to inequality and polarization. American Economic Review, 101(4), 1345–1374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  39. Esteban, J., Mayoral, L., & Ray, E. (2012). Ethnicity and conflict: An empirical study. American Economic Review, 102(4), 1310–1342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  40. Fearon, J. (2003). Ethnic and cultural diversity by country. Journal of Economic Growth, 8(2), 195–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  41. Fearon, J., & Laitin, D. (2003). Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war. American Political Science Review, 97(1), 75–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  42. Feenstra, R., Lipsey, R., Deng, H., Ma, A., & Mo, H. (2005). World trade flows: 1962–2000. NBER Working Paper No. 11040.Google Scholar
  43. Feenstra, R., Inklaar, R., & Timmer, M. (2013). The next generation of the penn world table. Retrieved from, www.ggdc.net/pwt.
  44. Felbermayr, G., Hiller, S., & Sala, D. (2010). Does immigration boost per capita income? Economics Letters, 107(2), 177–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  45. Fershtman, C., Hvide, H., & Weiss, Y. (2006). Cultural diversity, status concerns and the organization of work. Research in Labor Economics, 24, 3–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  46. Filmer, D., Hasan, A., Pritchett, L. (2006). A millennium learning goal: Measuring real progress in education. Center for Global Development Working Paper 97.Google Scholar
  47. Frankel, J., & Romer, D. (1999). Does trade cause growth? The American Economic Review, 89(3), 379–399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  48. Frankel, J., Stein, E., & Wei, S. J. (1995). Trading blocs and the Americas: The natural, the unnatural, and the super-natural. Journal of Development Economics, 47(1), 61–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  49. Gallup, J., Sachs, J., & Mellinger, A. (1998). Geography and economic development. In B. Pleskovic & J. E. Stiglitz (Eds.), Annual world bank conference on development economics. Washington, DC: The World Bank.Google Scholar
  50. Glaeser, E., La Porta, R., & Shleifer, A. (2004). Do institutions cause growth? Journal of Economic Growth, 9(4), 271–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  51. Greenberg, J. (1956). The measurement of linguistic diversity. Language, 32, 109–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  52. Grogger, J., & Hanson, G. (2011). Income maximization and the selection and sorting of international migrants. Journal of Development Economics, 95, 42–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  53. Hall, R., & Jones, C. (1999). Why do some countries produce so much more output per worker than others? Quarterly Journal of Economics, 114(1), 83–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  54. Hambrick, D., Seung Cho, T., & Chen, M. J. (1996). The influence of top management team heterogeneity on firms’ competitive moves. Administrative Science Quarterly, 41(4), 659–684.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  55. Hatton, T., & Williamson, J. (1998). The age of mass migration: Causes and economic impact. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  56. Head, K., Mayer, T., & Ries, J. (2010). The erosion of colonial trade linkages after independence. Journal of International Economics, 81(1), 1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  57. Hjort, J. (2014). Ethnic divisions and production in firms. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 129(4), 1899–1946.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  58. Hong, L., & Page, S. (2001). Problem solving by heterogeneous agents. Journal of Economic Theory, 97(1), 123–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  59. Hoogendoorn, S., & van Praag, M. (2012). Ethnic diversity and team performance: A field experiment. IZA Working Paper No. 6731.Google Scholar
  60. Hsieh, C. T., & Ossa, R. (2011). A global view of productivity growth in China. NBER Working Paper 16778, September 2011.Google Scholar
  61. Kahane, L., Longley, N., & Simmons, R. (2013). The effect of coworker heterogeneity on firm-level output: Assessing the impacts of cultural and language diversity in the National Hockey League. Review of Economics and Statistics, 95(1), 302–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  62. Kali, R., Méndez, F., & Reyes, J. (2007). Trade structure and economic growth. Journal of International Trade & Econ Development, 16(2), 245–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  63. Laitin, D. D., & Jeon, S. (2013). Exploring opportunities in cultural diversity. Mimeo: Stanford University.Google Scholar
  64. Lazear, E. P. (1999a). Globalisation and the market for teammates. Economic Journal, 109(454), 15–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  65. Lazear, E. P. (1999b). Culture and language. Journal of Political Economy, 107(6), 95–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  66. Lewer, J. J., & Van den Berg, H. (2008). A gravity model of immigration. Economics Letters, 99(1), 164–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  67. Marshall, M., & Jaggers, K. (2012). Polity IV project: Political regime characteristics and transitions, 1800–2012. Center for International Development and Conflict Management, University of Maryland.Google Scholar
  68. Mayda, A. (2010). International migration: A panel data analysis of the determinants of bilateral flows. Journal of Population Economics, 23(4), 1249–1274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  69. McKenzie, D., & Rapoport, H. (2010). Self-selection patterns in Mexico-US migration: The role of migration networks. Review of Economics and Statistics, 92(4), 811–821.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  70. Michalopoulos, S. (2012). The origins of ethnolinguistic diversity. American Economic Review, 102(4), 1508–1539.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  71. Milliken, F. J., & Martins, L. L. (1996). Searching for common threads: Understanding the multiple effects of diversity in organizational groups. Academy of Management Review, 21(2), 402–433.Google Scholar
  72. Montalvo, J., & Reynal-Querol, M. (2005). Ethnic polarization, potential conflict and civil war. American Economic Review, 95(3), 796–816.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  73. OECD. (2009). OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), available from: https://pisa2009.acer.edu.au/.
  74. O’Reilly, C., Caldwell, D., & Barnett, W. (1989). Work group demography, social integration, and turnover. Administrative Science Quarterly, 34(1), 21–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  75. Oster, E. (2013). Unobservable selection and coefficient stability: Theory and validation. NBER Working Paper 19054.Google Scholar
  76. Ortega, F., & Peri, G. (2009). The causes and effects of international migrations: Evidence from OECD countries 1980–2005. NBER Working Paper 14833.Google Scholar
  77. Ortega, F., & Peri, G. (2014). Openness and income: The roles of trade and migration. Journal of International Economics, 92(2), 231–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  78. Ottaviano, G., & Peri, G. (2006). The economic value of cultural diversity: Evidence from U.S. cities. Journal of Economic Geography, 6(1), 9–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  79. Ozden, C., Parsons, C., Schiff, M., & Walmsley, T. (2011). Where on earth is everybody? The evolution of global bilateral migration 1960–2000. The World Bank Economic Review, 25(1), 12–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  80. Ozgen, C., Nijkamp, P., & Poot, J. (2013). The impact of cultural diversity on firm: Evidence from dutch micro data. IZA Journal of Migration, 2, 18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  81. Parrotta, P., Pozzoli, D., & Pytlikova, M. (2014). Does labor diversity affect firm productivity? European Economic Review, 66, 144–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  82. Peri, G. (2012). The effect of immigration on productivity: Evidence from US states. Review of Economics and Statistics, 94(1), 348–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  83. Putnam, R. D. (1995). Bowling alone: America’s declining social capital. Journal of Democracy, 6(1), 65–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  84. Reynal-Querol, M. (2002). Ethnicity, political systems, and civil wars. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 46(1), 29–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  85. Rodriguez, F., & Rodrik, D. (2001). Trade policy and economic growth: A skeptic’s guide to the cross-national evidence. NBER Macroeconomics Annual, 15, 261–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  86. Rodrik, D., Subramanian, A., & Trebbi, F. (2004). Institutions rule: The primacy of institutions over geography and integration in economic development. Journal of Economic Growth, 9(2), 131–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  87. Sachs, J. (2003). Institutions don’t rule: Direct effects of geography on per capita income. NBER Working Paper No 9490.Google Scholar
  88. Santos Silva, J., & Tenreyro, S. (2006). The log of gravity. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 88(4), 641–658.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  89. Spolaore, E., & Wacziarg, R. (2009). The diffusion of development. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 124(2), 469–529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  90. Stock, J., & Yogo, M. (2005). Testing for weak instruments in linear IV regression. In Donald Andrews & James H. Stock (Eds.), Identification and inference for econometric models: Essays in honor of Thomas Rothenberg. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
  91. Tinbergen, J. (1962). An analysis of world trade flows. In Jan Tinbergen (Ed.), Shaping the world economy. New York: Twentieth Century Fund.Google Scholar
  92. U.N. Population Division. (2013). World population prospects: The 2013 revision. Retrieved from, http://www.esa.un.org/wpp.
  93. World Bank Group (2013). World development indicators 2013. World Bank Publications, 2013.Google Scholar
  94. World Intellectual Property Organization. (2010). World intellectual property indicators. Retrieved from, http://www.wipo.int/ipstats/en/statistics/patents/.
  95. Yanikkaya, H. (2003). Trade openness and economic growth: A cross-country empirical investigation. Journal of Development Economics, 72(1), 57–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  • Alberto Alesina
    • 1
    • 2
  • Johann Harnoss
    • 1
    • 3
  • Hillel Rapoport
    • 4
    • 5
    • 6
  1. 1.Harvard UniversityCambridgeUSA
  2. 2.IGIER BocconiMilanItaly
  3. 3.Université Paris 1 Panthéon-SorbonneParisFrance
  4. 4.Paris School of EconomicsUniversité Paris 1 Panthéon-SorbonneParisFrance
  5. 5.Department of EconomicsBar-Ilan UniversityRamat GanIsrael
  6. 6.Center for International DevelopmentHarvard UniversityCambridgeUSA

Personalised recommendations