Determinants of International Migration in Argentina: Differences between European and Latin American Flows

Abstract

This paper aims to study, from a long-term perspective, the factors associated to immigrant flows to Argentina from Europe (Spain and Italy) and South America, focusing on economic, labor market and political determinants of these flows. Taking into account these economic and non-economic factors, a set of different econometric models are performed and estimates are made for both the first wave of migration during the period from 1870 to 1950 and the second wave during the period from 1945 to 1976. The results indicate a shift in the order of importance of the determinants of the entry rate, where the income gap, more than opportunities of employment differentials, appears to be the variable that generates the greatest reaction in the regional inmigratory flows. On the contrary, European flows seem to have been triggered by the second factor. However, beyond certain socio-economic junctures that favor or constrain immigration to Argentina, wage disparities with respect to other South American countries have created structural conditions that explain the persistence of migrant flows coming from countries in the region even during recessions such as that experienced by Argentina in the mid-1990s.