The Healthy Immigrant Paradox and Health Convergence

Arbeitspapier

The health status of people is a precious commodity and central to economic, socio-political, and environmental dimensions of any country. Yet it is often the missing statistic in all general statistics, demographics, and presentations about the portrait of immigrants and natives. In this paper we are concerned with international migration and health outcomes in the host countries. Through a general literature review and examination of specific immigration countries, we provide insights into the Healthy Immigrant Paradox and the health assimilation of immigrants as we also elucidate selection and measurement challenges. While health is part of human capital, health assimilation is the mirror image of earnings assimilation. Namely, immigrants arrive with better health compared to natives and their health deteriorates with longer residence in the host country, converging to the health of natives or becoming even worse. A deeper understanding of immigrant health trajectories, and disparities with natives and other immigrants is of great value to societies and policymakers, who can design appropriate policy frameworks that address public health challenges, and prevent the health deterioration of immigrants.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: CESifo Working Paper ; No. 6692

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Health, Education, and Welfare: General ; Health: General ; Health Behavior ; Health and Inequality ; Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health ; Labor and Demographic Economics: General ; International Migration ; Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts ; Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-labor Market Discrimination ; Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers ; Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
• Subject: health status ; healthy immigrant paradox ; international migration ; assimilation ; age-cohort-period effects ; selection ; aging

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Constant, Amelie F.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)
• (where): Munich
• (when): 2017

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/171156
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET