TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Fenoll, Ainoa Aparicio
AU  - Kuehn, Zoë
        TI  - Immigrants Move Where Their Skills Are Scarce: Evidence from English Proficiency
        PY  - 2018/Oct/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 11907
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp11907
        AB  - This paper studies whether individuals tend to migrate to countries where their skills are scarce or abundant. Focusing on English language skills, we test whether immigrants who are proficient in English choose to move to countries where many or few individuals speak English. We use the introduction of English classes into compulsory school curricula as an exogenous determinant for English proficiency of migrants of different ages, and we consider cohort data on migration among 29 European countries, where English is not the official language and where labor mobility is essentially free. Our estimation strategy consists of refined comparisons of cohorts, and we control for all variables traditionally included in international migration models. We find that immigrants who are proficient in English move to countries where fewer individuals speak English, and where hence their skills are scarce. We also show that similar results hold for general skills.
        KW  - choice of destination country
KW  - English language skills
KW  - migration
        ER  -