ANNALSOF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
NUMBER97/98,JANUARY/JUNE
2010
AssetHoldings,
Savings,
andTemporary
Migration
ChristianDUSTMANNand JosepMESTRES
(CReAM)
University
CollegeLondonand Centre
forResearchandAnalysisofMigration
inrelation
totheirreturn
ofimmigrants
Thispaperanalyzessavingsandassetholdings
plans.We
Further,
byreturn
plansofimmigrants.
maybe affected
arguethatsavingsandassetaccumulation
return
thewaysavingsandassetsareheldinthehomeandhostcountry
mayalso be relatedtofuture
andnativesmayleadtoserious
savingsandassetsbetweenimmigrants
plans.Thus,comparing
with
We showthatimmigrants
whenneglecting
thehomecountry
underestimation
component.
In
in
the
home
of
their
a
return
addition,
country.
savings
proportion
temporary
plansplace higher
inthehomecountry
are
andtheshareofassetsandhousingvalueaccumulated
boththemagnitude
andlowerthevalueofassetsand
theirmigration
as temporary,
whoconsider
largerforimmigrants
we findno
on observable
heldinthehostcountry.
characteristics,
Finally,andconditional
property
with
more
than
withtemporary
save
evidencethatimmigrants
immigrants
plans
migration
plans.*
permanent
migration
I.
Introduction
is important
forassessmentof thewelfareimpliof immigrants
The economicperformance
the
a largenumberof papersinvestigate
Not surprisingly
cationsof immigration.
therefore,
and
for
different
over
the
of
countries,
cycle,
migration
(relative)earnings
position immigrants
butis
data1.An area thathas receivedless attention,
and time-series
usingbothcross-section
in thereceiving
forassessingtheeconomicpositionof immigrants
perhapsequallyimportant
assetsandsavingsarelikelyto
andsavings.Like earnings,
is theirassetaccumulation
country,
inthepastmayhaveaffected
Returnintentions
return.
be affected
past
byplansabouta future
ofcurrent
assetholdingsand
the
and
therefore
as wellas pastexpenditures,
magnitude
earnings
where
return
intentions
Furthermore,
maydetermine
pastandcurrent
savings.2
pastandcurrent
assetsand savingsare held.For instance,whenconsidering
housingand otherinvestments,
rather
as temporary
areintended
inthecountry
oforiginifmigrations
thesemaybe undertaken
thanpermanent.3
1. From the early work of CHISWICK [1978] and BORJAS [1985] to DUSTMANN [1993], FRIEDBERG [1993], BORJAS
[1995], BARTH et al. [2004], BRATSBERG and al [2006] and LUBOTSKY [2007] among others.
2. See DUSTMANN [1995, 1997] for a theoreticalanalysis of the interactionbetween returnmigrationand immigrant
savings.
3. See WOODRUFF and ZENTENO [2007] and YANG [2008] forevidence on the creationof enterprisesof immigrants
in theirhome countrieswhile abroad. DUSTMANN and KIRCHKAMP [2002] and MESNARD [2004] provide evidence of
activitiesafterreturn.
immigrantsundertakingentrepreneurial
* JEL:F22, D31, R21 /KEY WORDS: International
Migration,Wealth Accumulation, Housing Demand.
289
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CHRISTIAN DUSTMANN AND JOSEP MESTRES
A number
ofpapersanalysethewealthgapbetweenimmigrants
andnatives.Mostofthese
a
even
conditional
on
observable
characteristics4.
However,mostmeasures
report persistent
gap,
ofimmigrant
wealthdo notconsider
in
wealth
the
home
andhostcountry
immigrants'
separately.
wealthaccumulation
without
betweenlocations
Hence,an analysisthatconsiders
differentiating
mostofthese
mayonlygivean incomplete
pictureof assetholdingsand savings.In addition,
studiesdo notallow eitherforheterogeneity
acrossimmigrants
due to differences
in pastand
current
return
plans5.
In thispaper,we providean analysisofimmigrant
to
savingsandassetholdingsin relation
and
current
return
We
also
consider
the
that
and
assets
are
held
past
plans.
possibility savings
notonlyinthehostcountry,
butalso inthecountry
oforigin.Ouranalysisis basedon a unique
datasourcethatprovidesinformation
on assetholdings,
itscomposition
andlocation,as wellas
return
assetaccumulation
and savings,andhowit
immigrants'
plans.We describeimmigrants'
relatestoreturn
as wellas individual
andhouseholdcharacteristics.
Thepapermakes
intentions,
twocontributions.
it
betweenreturn
First, providesanalysisoftherelationship
plans,on theone
ontheother.
theimportance
ofconsiderhand,andsavingsandassetholdings
Second,itillustrates
assetholdings
notonlyinthehostbutalso thehomecountry.
ingmigrants'
Ourresults
showthattheoveralllevelofsavingsandassetaccumulation
ofimmigrants
would
be severely
ifhomecountry
underestimated
wealthis nottakenintoconsideration.
In addition,
return
The totalvalueof
theyshowhowimmigrants'
plansarerelatedto wealthaccumulation.
assetshelddoesnotdiffer
between
with
households
intentions
significantly
immigrant
temporary
andthosewithpermanent
ones.However,
thedistribution
oftheseassetsbetweenhost-andhome
locationdoesdiffer.
whoplantoreturn
do allocatea higher
oftheir
country
Migrants
proportion
intheirhomecountry.
savings,assetsandproperty
The structure
ofthepaperis as follows:inthenextsectionwe discussconceptual
considerin
III
Section
we
ourdataandexplainthedescriptive
ations,
present
evidence,in SectionIV we
showourresults
andfinally
in SectionV we concludeanddiscusspotential
implications.
II. ConceptualConsiderations
and Estimation
II.7 A SimpleModel
We start
witha simplemodelthatfocuseson thewaytemporary
vs permanent
relate
migrations
to savingsbehavior.
A moredetailedanalysisoftheinterplay
betweensavingsandreturn
(both
exogenousandoptimally
chosen)canbe foundinDUSTMANN
[1995].
As inGALORandSTARK[1990],supposethatthelifetime
oftheimmigrant
canbe divided
into2 sub-periods:
1
is
the
time
to
be
in
the
host
and
period
spent
country, period2 is thetime
tobe spentinthehomecountry
aftera possiblereturn.
inperiod2 takesplacewithprobReturn
4. See for example BLAU and GRAHAM [1990], COULSON [1999], BORJAS [2002], AMUEDO-DORANTES and
POZO [2002], PAINTER et al. [2003], OSILI and PAULSON [2004], COBB-CLARK and HILDEBRAND [2006], SINNING
[2007, 2009] or BAUER et al. [2009].
5. An exceptionis BAUER and SINNING[2009], who foundthatthesavings behaviourof migrantsis relatedto theirreturn
measures of migrantsavings,assuming eitherthatno remittancesare saved or that
plans. The analysis considersdifferent
all remittancesare saved, withoutdifferentiating
between remittancepurposes. It does not investigateimmigranthomeownershipor asset holdings.
290
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2010
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SAVINGS, ASSET HOLDINGS, AND TEMPORARY MIGRATION
= 0, themigration
In thecase that/?
is permanent.
Considerthefollowing
inter-temporal
ability/?.
function:
utility
U = u'cl) + p$ü2(cE2)+ (l-p)u2(c12)
1
(1)
2
9
in period1 in thehostcountry
and и and и arethe
In equation(1), и is thesub-utility
whichwe assume
inperiod2 inthehomeandinthehostcountry
samesub-utilities
respectively,
first
and
second
J2
and
(pare
in
concave consumption.
as beingstrictly
c1,
Further,
periodconTheparameter
inimmigration
respectively.
(indexE) countries
(indexI) andemigration
sumption
in the
home
to
the
a
return
attaches
to
the
g
is
the
country
possible
probability migrant
p [0, 1]
secondperiod.
thanconinthesecondperiodinthecase ofa return
mayinducemoreutility
Consumption
etc.Thisis capduetocomplementarities
inthehostcountry,
climate,
friends,
through
sumption
>
and
a
of
level
has
a
If
the
turedbytheparameter
highermarginal
utility
higher
ß. ß 1, migrant
ifhe/she
consumesinthehomecountry.
utility
for
forthefirst
Thebudgetconstraint
periodis givenbyw1= c1 + s. The budgetconstraint
=
andw^2+ rs= cE2inthe
thesecondperiodis w72+s J2 inthecase ofa permanent
migration
inperiod1 aredenotedbyw1,andinperiod2 byw^2andw72inhome
case ofa return.
Earnings
in the
The purchasing
and hostcountriesrespectively.
powerof thehostcountrycurrency
is higher
is givenbyr. Ifr > 1,thepurchasing
homecountry
currency
powerofthehostcountry
homecountry6.
inthemigrant's
itfixesconsumption
Thechoicevariableinperiod1 is savingss. Giventhebudgetconstraint,
is givenby:
ordercondition
inthefirst
period(c1) andinthesecondperiod(c^2,c72).The first
u'=p$üir+ ('-p)u¡
(2)
derivative.
wherethesubscript
j denotesthefirst
levelofsavings.Savingswillbe setsuchthatthemarginal
the
determines
optimal
Equation(2)
inperiod2.
return
in
offorgone
costinterms
utility period1 is equalizedtotheexpectedmarginal
=
ofconsumption
is permanent),
utility
savingswillequalizethemarginal
If/? 0 (themigration
in savings
a
to
leads
a
in thetwoperiodsin thehostcountry.
change
in/?
1),
change
If/?e(0,
the
to
relationship:
following
according
ds_
-№u?-uh
dp rìi+pfì^SiiHl-pWl
(3)
is alwaysnegative.Assumefirstthatß = 1 and r = 1:
in thedenominator
The expression
as is thepurchasing
arethesameinbothcountries,
forconsumption
powerofthehost
preferences
<
In thiscase,savingswillbe increasing
in/?as longas w^ v/,duetothestrict
currency.
country
themarginal
is thatan increaseinsavingsincreases
Theintuition
function.
oftheutility
concavity
between
ratesweredifferent
ifinterest
ratesareequalinthetwocountries;
we haveassumedthatinterest
6. Forsimplicity
assetaccumulation.
sourceofdifferential
thenthiswouldbe an additional
homeandhostcountry
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291
CHRISTIAN DUSTMANN AND JOSEP MESTRES
ofconsumption
duetolowerwages.Thus,an increaseinthe
Utility
bymoreinthehomecountry,
return
leads
to
Now
toconsume
probability
p
higher
savings.
supposethatß > 1: individuals
prefer
at homerather
thanabroad.Thiswillreinforce
theeffect
ofan increaseinthereturn
probability
on savings.Finally,supposethatthepurchasing
is higherat
powerofthehostcountry
currency
homeso thatr > 1. In thiscase,theoveralleffect
on savingsis ambiguous,
as itis nowunclear
whether
an increaseinsavingsincreases
themarginal
of
moreinthehomeor
utility consumption
thehostcountry.
A wagedifferential
between
homeandhostcountry
thanthegainobtained
larger
>
on savingsthrough
thepurchasing
differential
m/-w^
is
sufficient
fortheeffect
power
(r l)s
ofan increasein/?on savingstobe positive.Thus,according
to thissimplemodel,savingsmay
be positively
or(ifpurchasing
arelarge)negatively
affected
powerdifferentials
byan increasein
thereturn
orthetwoeffects
probability,
maycanceleachotherout.
Ourmodelhas nothing
to say howeveraboutwheresavingsareheld.It maywellbe that
who
a
to a return
aremorelikelyto transfer
someof their
immigrants assign highprobability
Ifthisis thecase,an empirical
savingstothehomecountry.
analysisofimmigrants'
savingsmay
leadto an underestimate
whenonlyconsidering
in
the
host
savings
economy.
Now considerassetholdings,
likehousingassetsorlong-term
Iftheseareproinvestments.
to
the
levelofpastsavings,thenoursimplelife-cycle
modelshouldsuggestthat,in
portional
therelationship
to thetemporariness
ofa migration
is ambiguous.
The modeldoes not
general,
where
these
assets
are
held.
it
is
not
that
who assigna
explain
However,
unlikely immigrants
to
a
later
return
have
a
foraccumulation
inthehomecountry.
Thisis
highprobability
preference
thecase forassetsthathavethecharacter
ofdurableconsumption
particularly
goods,andthatcan
notbe movedfromoneplaceto another,
likehousingassets.
II.2 EmpiricalImplementation
In theempiricalanalysiswe regressthevariousoutcomevariableson a vectorof individual
oforigindummies,
anda measurefortheprobability
to return.
specificcharacteristics,
country
Thegenericregression
hastheform
Yi=ai+Xia2+iri+ui
(4)
whereYtis therespective
outcome,Xtis a vectorof background
characteristics,
щ is an error
and7} is a measureforthetemporariness
ofa migration.
As we explainbelow,inourdata
term,
we observeforeachyearan indicator
ornottheindividual
wouldliketoreturn
questionwhether
homeat somepointinthefuture.
Theseintentions
affect
maychangeovertime,andaccordingly
thesavingsandassetholdingdecision.In ouranalysis,
we willusetheaverageintention
toreturn,
from
information
overthelastfiveyears,as a measureoftemporariness
whenanalyzing
computed
assetholdings,
andthecurrent
intention
toreturn
whenanalyzing
current
savings.
We wouldliketo emphasizethatwe do notinterpret
ourestimates
as causal.Whilein our
is exogenously
simplemodel,thereturn
probability
given,immigrants
maywellchoosewhether
wish
to
and
this
choice
not
be
to
or
decireturn,
they
may
exogenous savings assetaccumulation
sions.Further,
ourmeasureforthetemporariness
ofa migration
witherror,
maywellbe measured
whichwouldbiasthecoefficient
estimate
towards
zero.We believehoweverthattheassociations
betweenthetemporariness
ofa migration
on theone hand,and savingsandassetaccumulation
292
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SAVINGS, ASSET HOLDINGS, AND TEMPORARY MIGRATION
onbackground
as wellas thechoiceofwherethesearetobe held,whichareconditional
behavior,
in
The
overall
are
and
characteristics, interesting important7.
comparison savingsand assetacof
andnativesis ofcoursenotaffected
betweenimmigrants
cumulation
bypossibleendogeneity
return
migrations.
III. Backgroundand Data
III.7 Background
a strong
The WestGermaneconomyexperienced
by a
upwardswingafter1955,accompanied
ratefellfrom
rate.Between1955and 1960,theunemployment
sharpfallin theunemployment
of
FÜRARBEIT[2009]). At thesametime,thepercentage
5.6% to 1.3% (BUNDESAGENTUR
in
West
and
countries
from
Southern
workers
born
Germany
Turkeyemployed
European
foreign
increasedfrom0.6 percentin 1957to 5.3 percentin 1965,to 11.2 percentin 1973 (see BLITZ
were
Suchagreements
recruitment
was regulated
agreements.
bybilateral
[1977]).Immigration
setup withItaly,Spain,Greece,Turkey,Portugaland Yugoslaviain the 1950's and 1960's.
thesecountries
from
labourstopped.
offoreign
After1973,recruitment
Nevertheless,
immigration
The
reunification
dueto family
[1996]formoredetails). immigrant
continued,
(see DUSTMANN
overthis
Labormigration
movement.
from
that
stems
in
this
we
migration
paper
study
population
the
and
countries
the
both
as
considered
was
emigration
immigration
by
temporary
period initially
has beenquiteconsiderable
return
countries.
(see BOHNING[1987]),a
Still,although
migration
settled
bornworkers
offoreign
permanently8.
largefraction
III.2 Data andSample
Panel(GSOEP).The GSOEPis a householdThe datasetwe use is theGermanSocio-Economie
based panelsurvey,similarto theUS Panel Studyof IncomeDynamics(PSID) or theBritish
HouseholdPanel Study(BHPS). Initiatedin 1984,theGSOEPoversamplesthethen-resident
we havedescrimovement
whichstemsfromthemigration
in Germany,
population
immigrant
bed above.In thefirst
wave,about4500 householdswitha Germanbornhouseholdheadwere
head.Thedataareunique
bornhousehold
witha foreign
andabout1500households
interviewed,
over
on a boostsampleof immigrants a longperiodoftime.
in providing
repeatedinformation
as well as
fortheforeignbornfromtheover-sample,
For ouranalysis,we use observations
forthenativebornfromthestandard
observations
sample.
The householdhead
in a householdandovertheage of 16 is interviewed.
Each individual
the
andbelow interviewing
inthehousehold
aboutall otherindividuals
information
age.
provides
areincludedinthepanel.
andformtheirownhouseholds
wholeavehouseholds
Individuals
decitotemporary
andtheirrelationship
andMESTRES[2010]wherewe analyzeremittances
7. In DUSTMANN
migration
access
we
have
In
that
IV
with
an
estimator
fixed
effects
a
these
we
address
strategy.
paper,
sions,
bycombining
problems
are
estimates
effects
oftimeperiods.We findthattheIV-fixed
fora largenumber
information
forremittances
torepeated
sizetotheupward
error
measurement
biasthrough
duetothedownward
OLSestimates,
closetotheoriginal
beingofsimilar
Assetsandsavings- whichwe analyzeinthispaper- areonlyobserved
unobservable
biasinducedthrough
heterogeneity.
onceortwiceoverthecourseofthepanel.
from
the
in2004was 3.7 millionpeople,ofwhicharound60 percentoriginated
laborinGermany
8. Thestockofforeign
here
considered
countries
(OECD
[2006]).
sending
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293
CHRISTIANDUSTMANNAND JOSEPMESTRES
TheGSOEPdataprovidesinformation
on assetholdingsinboththehomeandhostcountries
for
1988.
For
that
there
is
detailed
information
onthetypeofassetholdings,
their
only
yearonly,
- whether
theassetis heldin thehostor sourcecountry9.
valuesand- importantly
Assetholdcash,savings,home
ingsreferto thetotalamountofassetholdingsofthehousehold(including
of
financial
in
net
each
location
Home
refers
etc.)
ownership,
obligations
separately.
ownership
or anyotherproperty
in
to all houses,apartments
ofthehouseholdat market
both
home
prices
andhostcountries.
locationsonlyfor1992 and 199410.
Savingsare declaredin bothhomeand hostcountry
in
the
host
to
the
net
Savings
country
correspond
monthly
savingsofthehouseholdtransformed
toa yearlylevel.Savingsinthehomecountry
to
correspond theindividual
yearlyamountsaved
inthehomecountry
andtransformed
tohousehold
level.We construct
thetotalamountofhouseholdsavingsas thesumoftheyearlyamountsthehouseholdsavedin bothlocations.We will
use thosetwoyearswherewe observesavingsin bothlocations(1992 and 1994) to studythe
allocationof savings.All monetary
variablesareat thehouseholdlevelin realamounts,
where
thereference
yearis 2002.
A further
ofourdatais thatimmigrants
ineachwaveofthe
uniquefeature
provideinformation
whether
intend
to
remain
in
or
whether
wish
toreturn
home
panel
they
permanentlyGermany,
they
atsomestageinthefuture.
We usethisinformation
todifferentiate
between
thosewhodo andthose
whodo notplantoreturn
tothehomecountry.
Ifeconomicdecisionsareinvolved,
itis likelythat
thesearebasedon intentions
ofthissort,rather
thanonpossiblerealizations
ata laterstage.
In addition,
we observeindividual
andhouseholdcharacteristics
inthehostcountry,
as well
as information
on family
members
whoarelivinginthecountry
oforigin.
IV. Results
IV.7 Descriptive
Evidence
Individual
Characteristics:
As we mention
on
above,we measuresavingsandassetaccumulation
thelevelofthehousehold.
Whenwe refer
to characteristics
ofindividuals
within
we
households,
refer
totheheadofhousehold.
Entriesin TABLEI showthattheaverageage ofhousetypically
holdheadsinoursampleis 45, andthatmigrants
residedslightly
lessthan22 yearson averagein
Almost90 percent
oftheheadofhouseholds
aremale,and78 percent
areemployed.
The
Germany.
net
household
income
is
around
Euros
2002
Around
93
25,000
yearly
average
(in
prices).
percent
ofhousehold
headsarenotsingle;however,
havenativepartners.
Almost40 percent
only7 percent
ofall headsofhouseholds
thattheygrewup ina ruralarea.The lastvariablemeasures
the
report
return
intention
ofthehousehold
head.On average,
51percent
ofthehousehold
headsinoursample
thattheywouldwishtoreturn
totheirhomecountry
at somepointinthefuture.
report
We
the
amount
of
for
1992
and 1994.Forimmigrants,
Savings: study yearly
savings
savings
refer
tothetotalamount
savedas wellas theamounts
savedinhostandhomecountries.
As a referHeresavingsrefer
tothetotalamount
saved.
ence,wealsoreport
savingsfornativebornindividuals.
9. See theAPPENDIX fora more detaileddescriptionof thedata construction.
10. The amountof savings in Germanyis declared from1992 onwards,while the amount saved in the home countryis
declared only for1984-1990,1992 and 1994. See thedata constructionAPPENDIX forfurther
details.
294
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SAVINGS,ASSET HOLDINGS,AND TEMPORARYMIGRATION
TABLE I. - SummaryStatistics
Mean
Std. Dev.
Age
45.46
11.29
Age AtArrival
23.73
9.16
YearsSinceMigration
2 1.76
5.87
NumberYearsEducation
HouseholdIncome
inHousehold
NumberChildren
9.43
1.92
25,186
0.85
12,157
1.07
NumberAdultsinHousehold
2.66
1.21
inHousehold
NumberEmployedIndividuals
Sex
1.59
0.94
0.88
0.32
Employed
Non Single
0.78
0.41
0.93
0.25
NativePartner
0.07
0.26
SpouseAbroad
Abroad
Children
0.04
0.19
0.07
0.26
RuralChildhood
0.39
0.49
Temporary
NumberofObservations
0.51
0.50
2,456
Note:Calculationsbasedon GSOEPdata,1988,1992,1994.Individualinformation
totheheadofhousehold.HouseholdIncomein 2002 Euros.
corresponds
inthefirst
IntheupperpanelofTABLEII, we describesavingsforall immigrants
pairofcolumns.
andpermanent
with
betweenimmigrants temporary
In nexttwopairsofcolumnswe distinguish
betweenimmigrant
themeandifference
return
pairofcolumnswe report
plans.In thefollowing
of
household11.
the
head
refers
to
return
on
information
The
its
t-statistic.
and
plans
groups
in
thehostcountry.
save
that
households
of
all
48
About percent
report they
immigrant
which
on savinga positiveamount),
The averageamountsavedis 2,046Euros(notconditional
withpermanent
to 7.4 percentof overallhouseholdincome.Immigrants
migration
corresponds
with
those
than
than
in
the
host
to
save
less
are
plans,andthey
temporary
country
likely
plans
to one percent
in
host
in
the
save a loweramount.The difference savings
corresponds
country
The proportion
ofthehouseholdincome.The nextrowshowsthesavingsinthehomecountry.
whosave is morethan4 percentage
intentions
withtemporary
ofimmigrants
pointshigherthan
withtheamountsavedbeinghigheras well.Both
withpermanent
thatofimmigrants
intentions,
different
are significantly
differences
Finally,thelastthreerowsreportthetotal
statistically.
thetotalamountofsavingsofnatives
we report
ofyearlysavings.As a pointofreference,
amount
householdsreportsavings,as compared
in thelasttwocolumns.One in twoof all immigrants
The totalaverageamountofsavingsis equalto 2,199Euros
ornativehouseholds.
to 65 percent
to 10% fornatives),
householdincome,as compared
to 8.1% ofimmigrants'
(whichcorresponds
whichis lowerthantheaveragesavingsfornativesbothin absolutevalueandrelativeto their
householdincomes12.
andreturn
forwhichbothsavingsorassetinformation
11. We useall observations
plansarereported.
datafromtheGermanCentralBank's(Bundesbank)
12. Thehousehold
savingsratioinourdatais inlinewithaggregate
onaverageto 12%ofhousehold
wherehousehold
FinancialAccounts,
disposableincomefor1992and
savingscorrespond
1994 (BUNDESBANK [2008]).
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295
CHRISTIANDUSTMANNAND JOSEPMESTRES
TABLE II. - Savings,HomeOwnershipandAssets
JtlT
All Immigrants
Temporary
Permanent
Immigrants
Immigrants
жг .
Natives
Mean
Mean
N
Mean
N
Mean
N
Difference
TemporaryPermanent
t
Mean
N
Migrants
Savings
In HostCountry
thatsaves
Proportion
AverageAmount
48.3%
1871
50.4%
1,871
2,218
782
782
46.7%
2,046
1,089
1,922 1,089
3.6%
297
1.55
1.74
7.4%
1809
8.0%
754
7.0%
1,055
1.0%
1.89
4.8%
155
1,902
1,902
7.3%
230
797
797
3.0%
101
1,105
1,105
4.3%**
129*
4.35
2.31
HH
0.7%
AverageValueas Percentage
Income
TotalSumHomeandHostCountry
49.8%
Proportion
2,199
AverageAmount
1,838
0.9%
769
0.5%
1,069
0.3%
1.26
1871
1871
52.8%
782
782
47.6%
2,448
2,021
1,089
1,089
5.2%*
427*
2.24
2.32
8.1%
1,809
8.8%
754
7.5%
1,055
1.3%*
2.17
8.4%
860
857
5.5%
577
575
14.1%
27,049
283
282
-8.6%**
7,324
-19,726**
-4.31
-4.91
283
275
20,408**
5.37
4.69
283
283
11.8%**
188
3.26
0.03
229
229
1.5%
-29,786**
0.041
-3.76
172
172
18,706**
155
155
-2,595
(1655)
(Std.Dev.)
HH
AverageValueas Percentage
Income
(3,585)
(3,700)
In HomeCountry
Proportion
AverageAmount
0,207)
(Std.Dev.)
(1921)
(Std.Dev.)
HH
AverageValueas Percentage
Income
HomeOwnership
In HostCountry
thatHoldsProperty
Proportion
AverageValue
(Std.Dev.)
In HomeCountry
thatHoldsProperty
Proportion
AverageValue
13,814
(55,896)
44.2%
(1,127)
(3,835)
(38,995)
30,043
859
835
36,764
TotalSumHomeandHostCountry
thatHoldsProperty
49.9%
Proportion
44,381
AverageValue
859
832
44,443
629
629
20,805
(Std.Dev.)
(59,823)
50.5%
(66,816)
53.8%
(Std.Dev.)
(81,167)
In HostCountry
thatHoldsAssets
Proportion
AverageValue
31,649
In HomeCountry
thatHoldsAssets
Proportion
AverageValue
48,723
595
595
54,130
TotalSumHomeandHostCountry
thatHoldsAssets
83.7%
Proportion
66,777
AverageValue
486
486
65,949
AssetHoldings
(Std.Dev.)
(StdDev.)
(Std.Dev.)
73.4%
(96,379)
71.6%
(75,382)
(103.651)
(78,167)
74.0%
(126,877)
75.7%
(81,975)
84.3%
(96,608)
576
560
(1,259)
(3,974)
(78,417)
31.4%
16,356
(38,792)
576
558
44,255
42.0%
400
400
50,591
(87,108)
72.5%
(128,105)
423
423
35,424
61.6%
331
331
68,544
(53,899)
82.6%
(117,606)
19.1%**
14.0%**
1.7%
65.4% 6,901
2,888 6,901
(5,101)
9.9%
6,688
43.6% 3,329
60,973 3,194
(111,939)
3.46
2.76
0.48
0.25
79.8% 2,959
104,966 2,959
(162,877)
*
meandifference
at 5%; ** significant
meandifference
at 1%
significant
Note:Calculations
basedonGSOEPdataonhouseholdlevel.Averageamount(in 2002 Euros)notconditional
on reporting
anypositive
amount.Property
includeshouse,apartment
oranyotherproperty.
Assetholdingsrefertothetotalamountofassetholdings
Ownership
netoffinancialobligations,
etc.Savingsinthehostcountry
tothenetmonthly
cash,savings,property,
including
corresponds
savings
ofthehouseholdtransformed
to annualamount.Savingsin thehomecountry
to theyearlyamountremitted
to thehome
corresponds
and
is
that
saved.
Both
and
Asset
country
Property
Ownership
holdingsrefertotheyear1988.SavingsFlowsreferto years1992and
1994.We use all observations
forwhichrespective
information
is available.
296
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SAVINGS, ASSET HOLDINGS, AND TEMPORARY MIGRATION
Whenwe distinguish
withpermanent
betweenimmigrants
andtemporary
there
intentions,
is a cleardifference
betweenthetwogroups,withthosewithtemporary
intentions
savingmore,
inabsoluteas wellas inpercentage
oftheirhouseholdincome.
terms,
HomeOwnership
andAssets:A setof questionsaskingaboutassetholdingswas included
in thesurveyin 1988.Forimmigrants,
and assetholdings,
bothin
questionsrelateto property
andinthehomecountry.
Fornatives,
relatetototalproperty
andassetholdings.
Germany
questions
inthesecond(homeownership)
andthird
We report
(assets)panelsofTABLEII. As
descriptives
whilethenextcolumnsdistinguish
thefirst
twocolumns
before,
report
averagesforallimmigrants,
We includethe
andtemporary
betweenimmigrants
withpermanent
migration
plansrespectively.
inthelasttwocolumns.
natives'averageas reference
in
householdsreportowninghousingproperty
of
about
8.4
percent all immigrant
Only
intentions
reveals
with
and
between
immigrants temporary permanent
Germany.
Distinguishing
witha permanent
however.While14 percentof immigrants
remarkable
differences,
migration
do so.
in Germany,
intention
ownhousingproperty
only5 percentofthosewhowishto return
latter
is
much
lower
for
the
stock
the
value
of
the
Likewise,
category.
housing
in thehomecountry.
About44 percentof all
In thenextrowwe reporthomeownership
thelastrowcombines
inthehomecountry.
households
Finally,
report
owningproperty
immigrant
in Germany
whoholdproperty
ofimmigrants
withtheproportion
thisnumber
(firstrow).Half
44 percent
of
with
This
contrasts
in
home
or
host
holdproperty either
oftheimmigrants
country.
is about
The averagevalueof immigrants'
thatholdproperty.
nativebornhouseholds
property
lowerproperty
lowerthanthatofnatives.However,thismaypartlyreflect
30 percent
pricesin
thecountries
oforigin.
andpermanent
withtemporary
Inthenextcolumnswe distinguish
againbetweenimmigrants
with
return
households
in
two
One
return
housingstock
owning
plans
reports
immigrant
plans.
In addition,
intentions.
with
1
of
those
to
3
inthehomecountry,
permanent
compared just percent
who
wish
toreturn.
for
those
twice
as
is morethan
inthehomecountry
thevalueofproperty
high
aremorelikelyto ownproperty.
However,thetotalvalueofhome
Overall,temporary
migrants
andthosewhodo not.
wish
toreturn
who
households
is
similar
between
immigrant
ownership
refer
tothetotalamount
Asset
on
asset
information
Thenextpanelreports
holdings
holdings.
the
Forimmigrants
ofassets(including
cash,savings,property,
etc.)netoffinancial
obligations.
in
the
home
assets
held
in
and
held
between
assets
a
distinction
draw
country.
Germany,
questions
in thehostcountry,
The numbers
suggestthatifwe consideronlyassetholdingsof immigrants
thisdifference
lowerthanthoseofnatives.However,
is considerably
theamount
ofassetholdings
holdassetsalso in thehome
reducedwhentakingintoaccountthatimmigrants
is significantly
betweenimmigrants
inthedistribution
ofassetholdings
Thereis againa starkdifference
country.
oftheirassetsin
hold
most
Whilepermanent
intentions.
andpermanent
withtemporary
migrants
The totalamount
holdassetsmostlyin thehomecountry.
thehostcountry,
migrants
temporary
ofassetholdingsis slightly
migrants.
higherforpermanent
andnative
betweenimmigrant
showthat- foranycomparison
thesefigures
To summarize,
in
oforigin.
the
and
assets
consider
it
to
is
households
country
savings
immigrants'
important
andassetholdingsbetween
in savings,totalproperty
also showdifferences
thefigures
Further,
There
are also starkdifferences
and
with
plans.
migration
permanent
immigrants temporary
withtemporary
thesetwogroupsas towheretheseassetsareheld.Immigrants
between
migration
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297
CHRISTIAN DUSTMANN AND JOSEP MESTRES
andassetsthanimmigrants
withpermanent
plansholdless property
plansin thehostcountry,
butmoreinthehomecountry.
Thispointsat different
wealthallocationprofiles
betweenthose
who
want
to
return
and
those
who
do
It
not.
also
that
the
migrants
suggests
way immigrants
maypossiblyaffectthehousingmarketin thehostand thehomecountrydependson their
re-migration
plans.
IV.2 Conditional
Results
We nowfocuson thedifferences
betweenimmigrants
withtemporary
andpermanent
migration
inTABLEII do notaccountfordifferences
we report
inhouseholdandindiplans.Thenumbers
vidualcharacteristics.
inassetholdings
todifferences
incontemporaTheyalsorelatedifferences
neousintentions
abouta possiblereturn.
We nowprovidesomefurther
wherewe condition
results,
on differences
in householdcharacteristics,
anduse information
aboutcontemporaneous
return
plans(inthecase ofsavings),andaveragepastreturn
plans(inthecase ofassetholdings).
Forbothsavings,
homeownership
andassetholdings,
we estimate
linearprobability
models
for
the
outcome
and
OLS
and
Tobit
models
for
the
amount
of
variable,
(LPM)
binary
savings.
IN.2.1 Savings
As we discussin SectionII, it is generallyambiguouswhetherimmigrants
withtemporary
withpermanent
migration
planssavemorethanimmigrants
plans.Thisis inlinewiththefigures
in TABLEII, whichshowthattemporary
aremorelikelyto save bothin thehostand
migrants
thehomecountry.
Someofthesedifferences
be
in composition
between
may dueto differences
thetwogroups.To investigate
thisfurther,
we nowpresent
someconditional
wherewe
estimates,
use datafortwoyearsofourpanel(1992 and 1994)thatprovideinformation
on theamountof
in
each
location.
We
construct
a
measure
for
total
and
the
ratio
ofsavingsinthe
savings
savings,
homevs thehostcountry.
If immigrants
withtemporary
intentions
havea higherpropensity
to
intentions
overall.If(in
save,we shouldobservethattheysavemorethanthosewithpermanent
havea preference
forshifting
then
addition)
temporary
immigrants
savingstothehomecountry,
theratioofhometohostcountry
should
be
related
to
return
savings
positively
plans.
Resultsarereported
inTABLEIII. In thefirst
column,we use thetotalamountofsavingsas
thedependent
variable.Columns2 and3 distinguish
betweensavingsinthehomeandhostcounColumn
4
the
ratio
of
in
the
home
andtotalsavings.We report
LPM
try.
reports
savings
country
inthefirst
results
OLS
in
results
the
second
and
Tobit
in
results
the
third
The
panel,
panel
panel13.
onthetemporary
variableincolumns1 suggest
thatoverall,immigrants
pointestimates
migration
withtemporary
withpermanent
migration
planssave morethanimmigrants
migration
plans.
Estimates
arehowevernotstatistically
When
into
significant.
splitting
up savings savingsinthe
homeandhostcountry,
are
and
associatedwith
temporary
migration
plans positively significantly
for
theratioofsavingsinhomevs
savings thehomecountry
only.In thelastcolumn,we report
hostcountry,
whichis positively
andsignificantly
relatedtoreturn
are
plans.Thus,theestimates
13. Total amountof savings correspondsto the amountreported.See the APPENDIX (TABLE I) forfullregressionresults
withall the additionalcontrolvariables forTotal Savings. These resultssuggestthatboth household income and employmentof thehead of thehouseholdaffectsavingspositively.Age, yearssince migration,and educationof thehead of household do not seem to be significantly
associated withhousehold savings conditionalon household income and employment
of thehead of thehousehold.
298
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SAVINGS, ASSET HOLDINGS, AND TEMPORARY MIGRATION
withthehypothesis
withtemporary
consistent
thatimmigrants
migration
planshavea preference
rather
thaninthehostcountry.
forholdingtheirsavingsintheorigincountry
Theydo notpoint
withtemporary
return
withpermanent
at immigrants
planssavingmorethanimmigrants
plans,
conditional
on otherobservable
characteristics.
TABLE III. -
Savings - Home and Host Country
LinearProbabilityModel
Total
Temporary
(Std.E.)
Savings(=1 Yes,=0 No)
HostCountry HomeCountry
0.024
(0.028)
0.044
(0.028)
0.034***
(0.013)
OLS
Temporary
(Std.E.)
Total
Amount
Savings
HostCountry
14.09
(233.296)
-89.944
(221.917)
Total
Amount
Savings
HostCountry
179.181
(166.524)
U>59
51.145
(151.934)
U>59
RatioHomevs Total
HomeCountry
99.476
(60.442)
0.029***
(0.009)
Tobit
Temporary
(Std.E.)
Observations
RatioHomevs Total
HomeCountry
116.343***
(41.013)
1^685
0.020***
(0.006)
1,680
at 1%
at 5%; *** significant
at 10%; ** significant
significant
includetimeand country
Note: GSOEPdata (1992 and 1994). Householdlevel. All specifications
dummiesand conditionon age, yearssince migration
(and its square),education,gender,marital
statusof thehead of householdas well as householdincomeand numberof
statusand employment
household.Standarderrorsare clusteredby household.Tobit
adultsand childrenin thehostcountry
on the
tothecoefficient
resultsshowunconditional
correspond
Reportedcoefficents
marginaleffects.
intention
variable.
temporary
contemporary
*
andAssetsHoldings
IV.2.2 Property
betweenassetholdings
Distinction
ofimmigrants.
andassetholdings
We nowturntotheproperty
is onlyavailableforoneyear(1988).Assetsmeasurethestock
inthehomeandinthehostcountry
overprevious
ofassetsaccumulated
years,
upto 1988.As thestockofassetshasbeenaccumulated
for1984-1988as a regressor14.
intention
we use theaveragereturn
in TABLEIV and foroverallassetholdings
We showtheresultsforproperty
ownership
forthe
estimates
to above.We reportthecoefficient
in TABLEV, usingsimilarspecifications
the
inthefirst
column total
We report
intentions
overtheperiod1984-198815.
averageofreturn
location
betweentheproperty
whilecolumns2 and3 differentiate
ofproperty
amount
ownership,
in
home
the
theratioofproperty
Column4 reports
in homeandhostcountry.
country
holdings
onthe
LPM
estimation
the
results
of
a
shows
Thefirst
tototalproperty.
withrespect
simple
panel
haveanyproperty
holdings.
migrants
binaryoutcomewhether
on returnplans since the startof thepanel in 1984.
14. We onlyhave information
15. See theAPPENDIX (TABLE II) forthe fullset of regressionresults.Household income and household size are, respecconditionalon household income and
tively,positivelyand negativelyassociated with asset accumulation.Furthermore,
household size, households witholder and bettereducated heads hold more wealth.
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299
CHRISTIAN DUSTMANN AND JOSEP MESTRES
TABLE IV. -
PropertyOwnership - Home and Host Country
LinearProbabilityModel
Temporary
(Std.E.)
(=1 Yes,=0 No)
Property
Ownership
Total
HostCountry
HomeCountry
0.122*
-0.079**
0.190**
(0.055)
(0.03)
(0.054)
OLS
Total
Temporary
(Std.E.)
7,456.369
(8,832.433)
Amount
Property
HostCountry
HomeCountry RatioHomevs Total
0.214**
-2,2919.058**
30,939.940**
(5,565.475)
(6,773.723)
(0.054)
Tobit
Total
Temporary
(Std.E.)
Observations
11,678.86
(7,608.978)
739
Amount
Property
HostCountry
HomeCountry RatioHomevs Total
0.243**
-4,573.934**
28,297.509**
(1,520.867)
(5,849.031)
(0.061)
738
719
739
*
at 5%; ** significant
at 1%
significant
Note:GSOEPdata(1988). Householdlevel.All specifications
includetimeandcountry
dummiesand
condition
on age,yearssincemigration
maritalstatus,householdincome,
(and itssquare),education,
statusandnumberofadultsandchildreninthehostcountry
household.Property
employment
includesthepurchaseofhouse,apartment
oranyotherproperty,
inthehostand inthe
ownership
homecountry.
Tobitresultsshowunconditional
to
marginaleffects.
Reportedcoefficents
correspond
theaverageintention
to return
up to 1988(1984-1988).
Theresultsshowthaton averagetemporary
migration
plansareassociatedwitha 12.2pertoholdproperty.
return
associated
centagepointshigherlikelihood
Further,
plansarenegatively
withowninghousing
in
the
host
but
with
associated
property
country, positively
owningproperty
at home.The intention
to return
to thehomecountry
is associatedwithan 8 percentage
points
lowerlikelihood
to owna housein thehostcountry,
butan almost20 percentage
pointshigher
likelihood
to owna houseinthehomecountry.
In thesecondand thirdpanelof theTable,we reportOLS and Tobitresultsforthevalue
oftheproperty
held(in 2002 Euros).Theseresultsindicatethatthetotalvalueofproperty
that
with
hold
is
not
different
from
that
of
those
immigrants temporary
migration
plans
significantly
withpermanent
difference
intheproperty
wealth
plans.However,thereis a starkandsignificant
allocation
between
hostandhomecountries.
Thoseimmigrants
withtemporary
return
plansholda
loweramount
ofproperty
inthehostcountry
anda higher
amount
ofproperty
inthehomecountry,
inbothOLS andTobitspecifications.
In thelastcolumn,we againreporttheimpactof temporary
migration
planson theratio
between
heldinthehomecountry,
andtotalproperty
As forsavings,thisratio
property
holdings.
is strongly
skewedtowards
forimmigrants
withtemporary
holdingsinthehomecountry
migrationintentions,
inbothspecifications.
We showtheresultsforassetholdingsin TABLEV. Again,we report
thecoefficient
estimatesfortheaverageofreturn
intentions
overtheperiod1984-1988.The structure
ofthetableis
identical
totheprevious
one.Theresults
thatthetotalvalueofassetshelddoesnotdiffer
suggests
between
and
location
significantly
temporary permanent
However,thegeographical
immigrants.
as towhereassetsareheldis different:
households
withtemporary
intentions
holdmoreassetsin
300
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SAVINGS,ASSET HOLDINGS,AND TEMPORARYMIGRATION
thehomecountry,
andless inthehostcountry,
aftercontrolling
forhouseholdincomeandother
heldassetsto
characteristics.
As theresultsin thelastcolumnshow,theratioofhomecountry
to
return
totalassetsis positively
related
plans.
TABLE V. - AssetHoldings- HomeandHostCountry
LinearProbabilityModel
AssetHoldings(=1 Yes,=0 No)
HomeCountry
HostCountry
Total
Temporary
(Std.E.)
-0.036
(0053)
0.002
(0.057)
0.096
(0.059)
OLS
Total
Temporary
(Std.E.)
6,718.334
(15,522.831)
AssetHoldings
Amount
HomeCountry RatioHomevs Total
HostCountry
-29,173.987**
(10,146.918)
28,606.677**
(10,310.560)
0.133*
(0.060)
Tobit
AssetHolding
Amount
HomeCountry RatioHomevs Total
HostCountry
0.140*
25,472.782**
-17,238.395*
3,510.74
(0.068)
(8,603.728)
(6,714.548)
(12,167.750)
432
531
546
432
Total
Temporary
(Std.E.)
Observations
*
at 1%
at 5%; ** significant
significant
includetimeand countrydummies
Note: GSOEPdata (1988). Householdlevel,All specifications
and conditionon age, yearssince migration
(and its square),education,maritalstatus,household
household.Asset
statusand numberof adultsand childrenin thehostcountry
income,employment
tothetotalamountofassetholdingsnetoffinancial
cash,savings,
including
obligations,
holdingsrefer
Tobitresultsshowunconditional
marginaleffects.
etc.,inthehostand inthehomecountry.
property,
to return
totheaverageintention
up to 1988(1984-1988).
correspond
Reportedcoefficents
V. Conclusions
inrelation
totheirreturn
ofimmigrants
Inthispaper,we analyzesavingsandassetholdings
plans.
in
thehomeandinthe
held
and
assets
stock
between
Ouranalysisdistinguishes
savings,housing
of
distribution
We findevidencethatreturn
hostcountry.
plansare associatedwitha different
locations.
home
host
and
between
and
assets
country
savings,property
and
intotalsavings,property
difference
thatthereis no significant
Ourresultsshowfurther
on
conditional
andtemporary
withpermanent
betweenimmigrants
assetholdings
migration
plans,
toreturn
withintentions
characteristics.
household
observable
However,immigrants
background
in thehome
andmorelikelyto ownproperty
inthehostcountry
areless likelyto ownproperty
is quitesubstantial.
andthisdifference
Thus,ourstudypointsat immigration
policies
country,
than
a
different
thatfavorpermanent
impacton thedomestichousingmarket
having
migrations
policies.
policiesthatfavortemporary
of savings
arealso associatedwithholdinga higherproportion
plans
migration
Temporary
in
thehome
held
assets
of
for
both
andassetsinthehomecountries.
groups immigrants
Finally,
of
is
that
an
assessment
of
our
another
Thus
arequitesubstantial.
paper
finding
important
country
inthe
needstotakeaccountofwealthandassetsaccumulated
wealthaccumulation
immigrants'
nature.
areofa temporary
themoremigrations
Thisis moreimportant,
homecountries.
2010
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
SOI
CHRISTIANDUSTMANNAND JOSEPMESTRES
We shouldemphasize
between
thetemporariness
ofmigrations
and
againthattherelationship
in
and
asset
accumulation
behavior
that
we
show
this
should
not
be
as
causal.
savings
paper
interpreted
ourstudy
substantial
inthelocation
differences
ofsavingsandasset
Nevertheless,
pointsatpossibly
between
withdifferent
intentions
aboutthepermanency
oftheir
Further,
holdings
immigrants
migration.
we findnoevidence
thattotalsavingsandassetsheldaredifferent
between
thesetwogroups.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thisresearch
was financially
German,
Korean,andNorwegian
supported
bytheAustrian,
the
Multi-donor
Trust
Fund
on
Labor
JobCreation,
and
Markets,
governments
through
EconomicGrowth
administered
andLaborunit.Dustmann
bytheWorldBank'sSocial Protection
fromtheNORFACE
Wewouldliketothankthe
acknowledges
support
Migration
Programme.
HillelRapoport,
andtwoanonymous
referees
forconstructive
comments.
editor,
Correspondence:
Department
ofEconomics,University
CollegeLondon,GowerStreet,
LondonWC1E6BT,U.K.Email: c.dustmannt&ucLac.uk
Appendix
Data Construction
We usedatafrom
theGermanSocio-Economic
Panel.Assetholdings
arereported
for1988,based
on a specialsurveymodule.Savingsare reported
for1992 and 1994. Our sampleconsistsof
households
whoseheadwas borninTurkey,
immigrant
Greece,Yugoslavia,Italyor Spain.
Information
on return
are
in
each
wave
ofthepanel.Individuals
wereasked
plans provided
whether
toremainpermanently
inGermany,
orwhether
homeat
theyintend
theywishto return
somestageinthefuture.
We construct
a binary
variablethatdefinesas temporary
thosewhoplan
inthefuture.
toreturn
As return
is relatedto pastreturn
we
plansmaychange,andassetaccumulation
intentions,
construct
an averagereturn
intention
variableforthelastfiveyearsbeforeassetsaremeasured
(thatis, 1984-1988).
All ourincomevariablesarereported
inrealterms(inEuros,deflated
tothebaseyear2002),
andathousehold
level.Householdincomecorresponds
tothenetmonthly
incomeofthehousehold
transformed
toannuallevel.Theexactwording
ofthequestionis "Ifeverything
is takentogether:
howhighis thetotalmonthly
incomeofall thehouseholdmembers
at present?
Pleasegivethe
netamount,
theamountafterthededuction
oftaxandnationalinsurance
contributions.
monthly
suchas rentsubsidy,
childbenefit,
subsistence
Regularpayments
allowances,
government
grants,
Ifnotknownexactly,
estimate
the
amount".
etc.,shouldbe included.
please
monthly
Information
on household
is availablefor1984-1990,1992and
savingsinthehomecountry
to theyearlyamountsavedin thehomecountry
1994,andcorresponds
bythehousehold.The
todeclaretheamountsentortakentothehomecountry
forthepurpose
questionasksindividuals
of"savingsforlater".We transform
thisvariabletothehousehold
level.Information
onhousehold
in
the
host
is
available
for
1992
onwards
and
to
the
netmonthly
savings
country
corresponds
of
the
household
transformed
to
level.
The
the
asked
is "Do you
savings
yearly
question survey
have
an
amount
of
left
formajorpurchases,
orsavusually
money overeachmonth
emergencies,
on savingsinboththehomeandthehost
ings?Ifyes,howmuch?".Thisimpliesthatinformation
302
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2010
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
SAVINGS, ASSET HOLDINGS, AND TEMPORARY MIGRATION
thetotal
is availableonlyfortwoyears(1992 and 1994).Forthoseyears,we construct
country
amountofsavingsas thesumofsavingsinbothlocations.
ina specialsurvey
in 1988whereimmigrants
drawnfromquestions
We useassetinformation
bothinthehomeandinthehostcountry
wereaskedfortheirassetholdings
separately.
refer
tothetotalamountofassetholdings(including
Assetholdings
cash,savings,property,
ofthequesThewording
bothinthehomeandhostcountries.
etc.)butnetoffinancial
obligations,
tionis "Ifyoucouldaddup all thewealthofthishousehold(including
cash,goodsandproperty
total
value?
Please makesureto
its
what
will
be
without
own
but
furniture),
approximate
you
includesthe
thatyoucouldhaveon them".Property
loansandcredits
all themortgages,
subtract
at market
or anyotherproperty
houses,apartments
prices,bothin thehomeandhostcountries.
ofthequestionis "Areyoutheownerof(specifictypeof
thewording
Foreachtypeofproperty,
valueis,thatis,howmuchmoney
itscommercial
Ifyes,howmuchdo youestimate
property)?
householdamounts
to
the
All
entriescorrespond
willyougetifyou sold itnow?"
aggregated
tothebase year2002.
declaredin 1988,inEuros,deflated
TABLE I. - Total Savings
TotalSavings
(=1 Yes, =0 No)
LPM
Age/10
(Std.E.)
10
YearsSinceMigration/
(Std.E.)
YSM-Squared/100
(Std.E.)
Log HH Income
(Std.E.)
NumberAdultsHH Host
(StdE.)
HH Host
NumberChildren
(Std.E.)
Head HH
Employment
(Std.E.)
I NumberEmployedHH
(Std.E.)
NumberYearsEducation
(Std.E.)
Male Head HH
(Std.E.)
NonSingle
(StdE.)
NativePartner
(Std.E.)
SpouseAbroad
(StdE.)
Abroad
Children
(Std.E.)
RuralChildhood
(Std.E.)
Temporary
{Std.E.)
NumberofObservations
Amount
TOBIT
OLS
15.043
(10.888)
-44.678
(579.814)
-92.917
(133.413)
20.828
(20-377>
-72.385
(954.475)
-131.676
(197.844)
-0.001
(°°°2)
0.063
(0100)
-0.019
(°024)
0.286***
(°089)
-0.047**
(0021)
-0.073***
(°014)
0.152***
(°038)
0.002
(°029)
0.003
(О-007)
0.019
(O-040)
-0.107**
(0049)
0.072
(°053)
0.084
(°083)
-0.067
2,691.025***
(935.280)
-280.394
(219.850)
-352.268***
(118.826)
62.768
(292.701)
236.447
(282.581)
-57.785
(51.418)
167.13
(469.024)
-829.918**
(357.352)
397.2
(403.186)
947.252
(623.977)
529.332
4,072.837***
(255.809)
-469.503***
(107.843)
-433.709***
(79.531)
642.021***
(233.220)
-212.843
(129.628)
-57.937
(38.930)
97.344
(234.473)
-889.294***
(288.561)
369.201
(269.934)
0.047*
(0°28)
0.044
(°028)
238.197
(230.128)
14.09
(233.296)
354.596**
(154.448)
179.181
(166.524)
(O-064)
(665.530)
1,127.213***
(432.572)
213.764
(343.230)
1,659
1,659
1,659
0.024
0.151
0.142
R-squared
*
at 1%
at 5%; ♦♦♦significant
at 10%; ** significant
significant
areclustered
errors
dummies.Standard
includetimeandcountry
Note:GSOEPdata(1992 and 1994).Householdlevel.All specifications
byhousehold.
2010
JANUARY/JUNE
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3Q3
CHRISTIANDUSTMANNAND JOSEPMESTRES
TABLE IL - TOTALPROPERTYANDASSETHOLDINGS
TotalProperty
1
(= Yes,= ONo)
LPM
Age/10
0.065*
6,992.39
0.439*
(0026)
(Std.E.)
YearsSinceMigration/
10
(31,944.141)
(0.228)
-40,474.467
-1,594.633
-9,021.404
-0.035
12,131.839
57,212.046**
58,354.315**
-0.028
-6,545.521*
-6,026.319**
-0.03
-0.027
-932.913
-1,940.823
-0.007
(0.017)
(4,933.143)
1,709.037
0.028
14,874.005
13,933.759
-15,353.334*
-13,211.824*
(Std.E.)
(0.061)
(0.016)
(Std.E.)
Head HH
Employment
19,354.011**
0.084
0.344**
(Std.E)
20,423.945**
42,990.847
(0.055)
HH Host
NumberChildren
0.066**
13,363.174
(Std.E)
NumberAdultsHH Host
8,167.744*
(0.025)
-0.104
Log HH Income
(4,123.640)
TotalAssetHoldings
Amount
(= 1 Yes,= ONo)
LPM
OLS
TOBIT
(3,567.110)
(0-223)
(Std.E.)
YSM-Squared/100
Amount
OLS
TOBIT
(0.018)
(35,502.003)
(8,818.495)
(9,691.445)
(2,666.964)
(2,948.062)
(7,884.666)
(8,676.121)
(2,269.345)
(2,504.003)
(0.057)
0.342**
(0.062)
(0.016)
(7,165.884)
(66,282.065)
(16,414.831)
(5,616.612)
-21,355
(52,034.042)
5,675.163
(12,929.400)
108,771.151** 100,564.981**
(18,119.010)
(14,485.252)
-5,194.61
-5,626.295
-79.446
-266.035
(4,546.187)
(3,557.839)
(3,833.999)
0.021
-1,801.02
(7,806.949)
(0.056)
NumberEmployed
HH
-0.013
-2,358.308
-3,104.786
-0.032
NumberYearsEducation
-0.014
2,321.072
(1,568.693)
366.429
(1,330.714)
-0.012
0.172
18,773.464
25,832.981
-0.007
29,624.491
19,496.307
0.015
25,354.86
17,984.492
-0.025
66,389.392*
51,424.168*
-0.068
-9,697.935
-8,631.509
-0.084
13,884.182
15,725.938*
5,437.249
(0.058)
(Std.E.)
(0.029)
(Std.E.)
(0010)
(Std.E.)
Male Head HH
(0.094)
(Std.E.)
NativePartner
(0.081)
(Std.E.)
SpouseAbroad
(0.087)
(Std.E.)
Children
Abroad
0.128*
(0.057)
(Std.E.)
RuralChildhood
-0.01
(0.037)
(Std.E.)
0.122*
Temporary
R-squared
(4,635.975)
(15,077.112)
(13,105.281)
(13,894.105)
(9,335.730)
(5,901.585)
(3,859.390)
(15,119.807)
(11,312.488)
(11,827.956)
(0.027)
(0.009)
(0.127)
(0.101)
(0.081)
(16,136.560)
(7,779.869)
7,329.063**
(2,737.697)
(36,803.571)
(29,301.068)
-19,941.21
(23,635.383)
(12,670.834)
(6,112.197)
4,813.823*
(2,151.789)
(28,689.586)
(22,861.355)
-19,590.228
(18,863.518)
(7,599.675)
0.006
(0.052)
25,068.459
19,478.381
3,562.898
-0.006
6,965.387
4,994.18
6,718.334
3,510.74
(4,932.460)
(0.034)
(15,167.549)
(9,993.592)
(11,837.909)
(7,791.598)
7,456.369
11,678.86
-0.036
(0.053)
(15,522.831)
738
718
718
432
432
432
0.138
0.117
0.011
0.131
0Л8
Q.Q1
(0.055)
(Std.E.)
NumberofObservations
(9,181.844)
(8,832.433)
(7,608.978)
(12,167.750)
*
at 10%; ♦* significant
at 5%; *** significant
at 1%
significant
Note:GSOEPdata(1992 and 1994).Householdlevel.All specifications
includetimeandcountry
dummies.Standard
errors
areclustered
byhousehold.
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