Journal article
Investigating Health Selection Within Mexico and Across the US Border
Population research and policy review, v 37(2)
01 Apr 2018
PMID: 30270953
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Despite acquiring lower levels of attainment and earnings, Mexican immigrants exhibit favorable health outcomes relative to their native-born counterparts. And while scholars attempt to reconcile this so-called paradoxical relationship with a variety of theoretical and empirical approaches, patterns of selective migration continue to receive considerable attention. The present study contributes to the literature on health selection by extending the healthy migrant hypothesis in a number of ways. First, we rely on a unique combination of datasets to assess whether the healthy are disproportionately more likely to migrate. We use the latest wave of the Mexican Family Life Survey and the 2013 Migrante Study, a survey that is representative of Mexican-born persons who are actively migrating through Tijuana. Pooling these data also allow us to differentiate between internal and US-bound migrants to shed light on their respective health profiles. Results provide modest support for the healthy migrant hypothesis. Although those who report better overall health are more likely to migrate, we find that the presence of certain chronic conditions increases migration risk. Our findings also suggest that internal migrants are healthier than those traveling to the US, though this is largely because those moving within Mexico reflect a younger and more educated population. This study takes an important step in uncovering variation across migrant flows and highlights the importance of the timing at which health is measured in the migration process.
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Details
- Title
- Investigating Health Selection Within Mexico and Across the US Border
- Creators
- Christina J. Diaz - University of ArizonaLiwen Zeng - University of ArizonaAna P. Martinez-Donate - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Population research and policy review, v 37(2)
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Number of pages
- 24
- Grant note
- National Institutes of Health (NIH); United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA R01HD046886 / EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) R01 HD046886 / Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Community Health and Prevention
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000427651200002
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85040359629
- Other Identifier
- 991019168177104721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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Source: SDGs in the Output
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Demography