LABOR-MARKET PERFORMANCE AS A DETERMINANT OF MIGRATION

Are migrants more productive workers than non-migrants? Such a compari son concerns both observed and unobservable productivity factors. This paper focuses on the correlation between unobservable factors at plac es of origin and destination. A human capital model of migration demon strates that more productive workers at the origin would migrate only if the correlation between origin and destination factors is strongly positive. Longitudinal data from Cote d'Ivoire suggest that, indeed, t he more productive workers do migrate. Furthermore, people migrate gen erally towards cities. Therefore, rural areas lose their productive wo rkers; urban areas may gain in productivity from the geographical shif ts in population.