CID Speaker Series: The Effects of UAE Construction Jobs on Indians and their Families
Where: Perkins Room, 4th Floor Rubenstein Building – Harvard Kennedy School
When: Friday, November 22nd, 2013 11:45am
What are the effects of temporary labor in Gulf states on workers from South Asia and their families? It is insufficient to estimate these effects by comparing households with and without migrants, because those households can differ in countless other ways. In his research, Clemens measures the effects of migrant work in the United Arab Emirates on workers form India and their families, using a natural experiment. The 2008 crisis in the UAE construction sector resulted in large changes in the ability of Indian households to access UAE jobs, independently of those households’ individual characteristics. Clemens has exceptionally rich data on these workers: a purpose-built survey of Indian households, individuals matched to thousands of applicants to UAE jobs and administrative records on workers in the UAE.