Moving to an instrumental variables

Moving to an instrumental variables specification in column 5 reverses the sign on
migrant intensity. Because migrant intensity is defined as a log share, there is a log-log
relationship between wages and migrant numbers. The coefficient on migrant intensity in
column 5 implies that a 10 percent increase in migrant numbers is associated with a 0.185
percent reduction in local wages. Contrary to expectations, the point estimate for lowskilled
Thai workers in column 6 is virtually identical to the estimate for all workers in
column 5. In both cases, the Myanmar border dummy becomes statistically
indistinguishable from zero: the overall negative relationship between migration and
wages is sufficient to explain the low wages along the Myanmar border .
Using the same approach to model wages for males and females gives an estimated
coefficient of -0.0189 (SE 0.0093) for males and -0.0143 (SE 0.0123) for females.