Arbeitspapier

The Healthy Immigrant Paradox and Health Convergence

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.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Series: CESifo Working Paper ; No. 6692

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

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

Handle
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET

Data provider

This object is provided by:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.

Object type

  • Arbeitspapier

Associated

  • Constant, Amelie F.
  • Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)

Time of origin

  • 2017

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