DeWaard, Jack, and James Raymer
Working paper no. 2011-05
Abstract
Descriptive studies of international migration typically rely on measures of migrant stocks and rates to assess migration patterns. In this paper, we propose a third alternative. Using harmonized data on age-specific migration flows from and to countries in the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) from 2002-2007, we estimate the waiting time of international migration, i.e., the total time lived by migrants in receiving countries, on average, given period migration and mortality schedules. The results provide a window into the temporal dynamics of international migration in Europe, which are increasingly relevant given recent expansions of the EU/EFTA.