Rational Inattention and Migration Decisions

Arbeitspapier

Acquiring information about destinations can be costly for migrants. We model information frictions in the rational inattention framework and obtain a closed-form expression for a migration gravity equation that we bring to the data. The model predicts that ows from countries with a higher cost of information or stronger priors are less responsive to variations in economic conditions at destination, as migrants rationally get less information before deciding where to move. The econometric analysis reveals systematic heterogeneity in the pro-cyclical behavior of migration flows across origins that is consistent with the existence of information frictions.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 13083

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; International Migration ; Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty ; Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
• Subject: rational inattention ; information ; international migration ; gravity equation

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Bertoli, Simone ; Fernández-Huertas Moraga, Jesús ; Guichard, Lucas
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2020

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/216395
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET