The happy migrant? Emigration and its impact on subjective well-being

Abstract

The chapter asks about possible causal effects of migration on subjective well-being (SWB) measured by self-reported overall life satisfaction. By combining the emigration sample of the German Emigration and Remigration Panel Study (GERPS) with a quasi-counterfactual sample of internationally non-mobile Germans provided by the Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) the difference-in-difference analyses show that emigration is actually accompanied by an increase in SWB. Based on propensity score matching procedures and compared to non-mobile German stayers, German first-time emigrants show a significant increase in SWB shortly after arrival in their host country. For most emigrants, migration pays off not only economically via increasing incomes but also with regard to an increase in life satisfaction. However, the underlying analysis has certain limitations and we therefore discuss the significance of the presented evidence and consequences and challenges for future research.