Papers under Review
1.
“Asset Ownership and the Probability of Repayment: An Examination of
Microcredit Data from
Abstract: Employing data for 34,255 loans made
by the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) to 12,454 repeat borrowers
during the 2002-2006 period, we examine the
relationship between borrowers’ asset holdings and microloan repayment.
Estimating a series of binomial probit specifications, we find a positive
relationship between land ownership and loan repayment; however, taken
collectively, non-land assets diminish the likelihood of repayment. Influences
of specific assets on repayment probabilities vary across asset types:
Ownership of land, corrugated tin houses, vans and rickshaws increase the
likelihood of repayment, while ownership of sewing machines, televisions,
radios and bicycles corresponds with a decreased repayment probability.
2.
“Do Immigrants Enhance International Trade in Services? The Case of US Tourism
Services Exports” [Co-author: Bedassa Tadesse, University of Minnesota - Duluth]
Abstract: That immigrants affect trade in goods
between their home and host countries is well-established in the literature.
Little evidence exists, however, as to whether immigrants also affect trade in
services. Using data on international tourist arrivals from 86 countries into
the United States during the years 1995-2004, we provide the first empirical
evidence on the effect of immigrants on exports of tourism services. Our
results suggest that immigrants significantly enhance exports of US tourism
services (as measured by the number of tourists in the US from different home
countries).
3.
“Home Country Economic Development and the Link between Immigrants and Trade:
Evidence from Australia” [Co-author: Bedassa Tadesse, University of Minnesota - Duluth]
Abstract: The importance of international trade
in enhancing economic growth and development is well-documented. Available
studies indicate that international trade enhances the efficiency with which
resources are allocated across sectors, facilitates the transfer of technology
between countries and thereby contributes to the sustained economic growth and
development of the participating nations. Using data on the stock of immigrants
to Australia from 101 home countries and Australia’s trade with the home
countries during the years 1990-2000, we examine whether differences in home
country economic development affect the ability of immigrants to influence the
host’s trade with the home countries. We find that while immigrants from both
developed and developing home countries exert influences that, at the aggregate
level, are similar (i.e., increases in trade), the extent to which immigrants
affect their host’s trade with their home countries varies greatly following
the economic development of the home countries. Indicative of the variation in
the information gaps that immigrants from home countries at various stages of
economic development help to overcome, our results have important implications
for defining the role that migration may play in affecting trade flows which in
turn contributes to economic growth.
4.
“Do African Immigrants Enhance their Home Nations’ Trade? [Co-author: Bedassa Tadesse, University of
Minnesota - Duluth]
Abstract: Using data on the stock of immigrants
from 43 home nations in Africa residing in 110 host countries throughout the
world and bilateral trade flows between respective home and host countries, we
examine whether African immigrants exert pro-trade effects on their home
nations’ trade with a typical host nation. Results from Tobit regression models
indicate that a one percent increase in the proportional stock of African
immigrants in a given host nation would raise the typical host country’s
exports to and imports from the typical African home nation by 0.26 percent and
0.15 percent, respectively. Considering the effects for each African home
nation individually, however, yields a different conclusion: immigrants from
several African home nations do not necessarily increase their home nation‘s
exports to or imports from a typical host nation. To this end, we find
hypothesized pro-trade effects for only 72 percent (for exports), 26 percent
(for imports), and 23 percent (in both cases) of the African home countries
considered. This finding is at odds with conclusions from previous studies.
Controlling for heterogeneity in the trade and immigration structures of these
nations, the variation in the magnitudes of the observed effects across
different African home countries imply the prevalence of different factors
underlying the ability of and the extent to which immigrants from developing
home countries are able to affect their respective home nation’s trade.
5. “Does the Immigrant-Trade Link Vary Across
Migration Corridors?” [Co-author: Bedassa Tadesse, University of Minnesota – Duluth]
Abstract: Using immigrant population stock
estimates and data for the year 2005 that represent 110 host economies and 131
home economies, we examine the relative influences of immigrants on host-home
country trade across broadly-defined migration corridors. Results from a series
of tobit regressions
indicate the immigrant-trade link is highest in proportional magnitude for the
South-South corridor and both of lowest magnitude and generally insignificant
for the North-North corridor. The South-North and North-South corridors also
exhibit positive and significant links; however, relative proportional
magnitudes differ across host country imports from and exports to the home
country. Estimated aggregate and proportional immigrant-induced trade effects
are largest for the North-South corridor, yet are of considerable magnitude for
the South-North and South-South corridors. Decomposing our tobit coefficients, we find persistent patterns of
statistical significance and the ordering of coefficients by magnitude for both
the trade-intensification and trade-initiation effects of immigrants. Our
findings support the notion that South countries are characterized by
relatively greater asymmetric information regarding products, markets and
trading opportunities and that North countries possess
superior trade-facilitating institutional infrastructure. More specifically,
immigrants appear to exert stronger proportional pro-trade influences if they
are in environments characterized by greater asymmetry of information and a
lack of trade-facilitating institutional infrastructure.
Last updated: November 2, 2009.