The Relationship Between Cultural Differences and Migration: Does Cultural Dilemma Matter?

Abstract

This paper studies the role of cultural differences on the choice of migrants’ destination country. In order to examine this issue, we run two separate analyses using data on international migration flow from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development statistics and data on international migration stock obtained from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series International. Cultural differences between the home and host countries are measured for observable characteristics that reveal fertility, marriage, and employment cultures among others. Results show a negative and statistically significant relationship between cultural differences and migration flow. This relationship varies when the physical distance is considered pointing to a nonstatistically significant effect of cultural differences for migration flow among bordering (neighboring) countries. Interestingly enough, in the analysis of migration stock, we detect that cultural differences matter in the location decision depending on whether individuals reside in bordering (or quite close non-bordering countries) or non-bordering countries. Our findings suggest that cultural differences play a role in the destination country choice while trying to mitigate the cultural dilemma in migration.