Title: Immigration policy and well-being of female foreign spouses: a case study of the effect of granting a work permit

Authors: Pei-An Liao; Lin Lin; Hung-Hao Chang

Addresses: English Taught Program in International Business, Shih Chien University, Taipei, 104336, Taiwan ' Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA ' Department of Agricultural Economics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 106319, Taiwan

Abstract: Immigration policies have been revised to improve immigrants' well-being in many countries. However, not much is known about how the policy reform affects female immigrant spouses' well-being. Exploiting an immigration policy reform in Taiwan, this study quantifies the effect of the reform on Mainland Chinese wives' happiness and income. Using a two-year population-based survey of the foreign wives in Taiwan before and after the policy reform and the difference-in-differences approach, we find that the policy reform increases Mainland Chinese wives' household income by 10.1% and their likelihood of being happy by 3.6%. With respect to the potential mechanism behind the policy's effect, we suggest that the potential driver could be increased employment opportunities in white-collar jobs for Mainland Chinese wives.

Keywords: immigration policies; well-being; females; foreign spouses; work permits; happiness; income; employment; difference-in-differences; Taiwan.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHD.2023.131531

International Journal of Happiness and Development, 2023 Vol.8 No.1, pp.44 - 65

Received: 05 Sep 2022
Accepted: 26 Feb 2023
Published online: 16 Jun 2023 *

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