Determinants Of International Migration Research Articles

Odrednice unutarnjih migracija u Hrvatskoj

Migration has had a great impact on Croatia, especially after it joined the EU. Thus, several studies have focused on international migration compared to regional migration which is under investigation. This study sheds some light on the determinants of internal migration at the NUTS3 level in Croatia in the 2000-2019 period relying on a fixed effects panel estimation. The results show that regional migration in Croatia is in line with the stylized facts on migration. The living standard and (labour) productivity measures, along with employment and wages are the main economic drivers of migration inflows and outflows. However, regions with substantial tourism activity attract inflows and disincentivize outflows of people, while regions with a high share of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries in the value-added decrease internal migration inflows. Moreover, environmental protection results also being a significant determinant of regional migration.

Competitiveness of regional labor markets as a determinant of international migration: A nexus empirical study

A large-scale migration from Ukraine caused by russian military aggression has triggered new security challenges to the national and regional economies. The paper aims to assess the competitiveness of regional labor markets and examine its nexus with international out-migration (on the example of the Carpathian region of Ukraine). The research methods include a composite approach (assessment of labor market competitiveness), the theory of sensitivity (identification of degree of sensitivity of composite and partial indices to changes in indicators), nonlinear regression (determination of dependence of the international out-migration on labor market competitiveness), and econometric nonlinear optimization (calculation of critical values of migration). The information and analytical basis comprises indicators reflecting the development of labor markets and international migrations in the oblasts of the Carpathian region in 2008–2021. The study reveals that the level of labor market competitiveness in the region mainly remained below the national average. Two groups of indicators dominated the structure of composite indices of labor market competitiveness in the region’s oblasts: institutional capacity (indicators measuring the ability of regulatory institutions and labor market entities to provide adequate support to the unemployed and promote employment) and labor motivation (wage and income indicators). Only Lviv oblast demonstrated resilience and growth of competitiveness, which was reflected in moderate out-migration. Meanwhile, the intensity of international out-migration in Zakarpattia and Chernivtsi oblasts (with worse labor market parameters) exceeded the estimated critical values. The paper confirms that low competitiveness of the labor market is a factor increasing migration losses. AcknowledgmentThis study has been conducted with the support of the Virtual Ukraine Institute for Advanced Study (VUIAS) Fellowship Programme, 2023/2024.

Determinants of Internal Migration in Nepal

Migration has become an important livelihood strategy for many poor people. This paper aims to examine the determinants of migration in context of Nepal; using secondary Nepal labour force survey (2017/18) survey data, by employing both descriptive and analytical tools on it. The theoretical background of this paper is pull-push theory of migration. This paper uses logistic regression model, misspecification test, multicollinearity test, heteroskedasticity test and marginal effect for empirical data analysis. Migration decisions are significantly affected by marital status, educational level, gender, household size and new-urban but insignificantly affected by unemployment. The finding results show that marital status, sex, unemployment, educational level, new urban and household size are the reasons behind the migration decisions. Based on findings, this paper recommends that the government should provide skilled oriented qualitative education and equal employment opportunities in rural areas. The quantative education enhances the volume of migration. Similarly, the govt. should also reduce regional disparities between urban and rural areas.

The Impact of Institutional Factors on Bilateral Migration: the Gravity Approach

We explore the impact of institutional factors on bilateral migration among the EU, CIS, and the US by applying the gravity model of migration. We employ instrumental variables methodology (IV-PPML, IV-GMM) and a non-linear estimation approach (NLS) to test our assumptions about the spurring effect of institutional indicators on migration. Empirical results demonstrate a significantly positive effect of economic development and legislative system on migration flows in the sample countries. However, we find that government regulation and political stability decrease migration. We also find that Russia attracts CIS migrants due to cultural and institutional reasons, while the EU and the US accommodate migration due to economic reasons. The crucial role of institutional development as a determinant of international migration is often overlooked in contemporary literature. We generate new insight into the contribution of control for corruption and law, governmental regulation, political stability and democracy, and ease of doing business to migration. Based on the results, we provide some policy implications.

Correction to: Food insecurity as a determinant of international migration: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Correction to: Food insecurity as a determinant of international migration: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Internal migration and technical efficiency: the case of Italy

ABSTRACT The aim of the paper is to contribute to the study of the determinants of the internal mobility of people. To study the determinants of internal migration, we introduce a new explanatory variable, i.e. technical efficiency of Local Labour Market Areas. This variable is particularly relevant, as it allows us to summarize the entrepreneurial capacity connected to the cultural and social context of an area. Our results, for the case of Italy, suggest that technical efficiency contributes greatly to explaining internal migratory flows and the various patterns of migration among different groups of individuals. By looking more specifically at different groups of individuals, we also uncover important differences between natives and foreigners and among different age-groups.

A Gravity Model Analysis of International Migration from Sri Lanka to South-East Asian and European Countries

Since the 1970s, the Middle East region has dominated the foreign employment market of Sri Lanka. However, Sri Lankan migrants have been paying more attention on moving to South-East Asian and European countries as noted in recent decades. In Sri Lanka, there is a substantial lacuna on the macroeconomic studies related to migration although international migration has a significant impact on economic indicators. As a contribution to reduce this gap, this study examines the macroeconomic determinants of international labor migration from Sri Lanka to South-east Asian and European countries using the gravity model of migration. As, in presence of heteroscedasticity, linear estimators result in inconsistency in estimated coefficients unless we use robust standard errors, Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood estimation technique was used to find the determinants using panel data over the period of 2007 to 2015. Destination-year fixed effects were used to capture unobserved time-variant and time-invariant variables as well as to account for the multilateral resistance. Results reveal that GDP per capita and unemployment rate of Sri Lanka are the push factors which force people to move from Sri Lanka while the destination countries’ population and dependency ratio are the pull factors which attract migrants towards the destination. Moreover, the population of Sri Lanka and poverty headcount ratio were also found as significant determinants of international migration.

Determinants of Internal Migration among Senegalese Youth

We analyze the socio-economic determinants of youth decision to internally migrate in Senegal. Young people undertake mostly rural-to-rural and urban-to-urban migrations and over half of them are temporary migrants. Using multinomial logit models, we estimate the role of household and community characteristics during childhood in later youth migration decisions. We find that these determinants are heterogeneous by gender and destination. The higher the fathers' education the more (less) likely are their daughters to move to urban (rural) areas. Young individuals, who spend their childhood in better off households, are more likely to move to urban areas. Also, the presence of younger siblings increases the propensity of moving to rural areas. Access to primary schools during childhood decreases the likelihood of migrating to urban areas for both men and women.

Three sub-Saharan migration systems in times of policy restriction

This paper reviews new evidence on the trends and patterns of migration between Africa and Europe since the mid-1970s, and discusses their congruency with the changing context of migration policy. Using data from the Determinants of International Migration (DEMIG) and the Migration between Africa and Europe (MAFE) projects, we compare flows and policies of three African and six European destination countries (Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, and Senegal, on the one hand; and Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and the UK, on the other). The paper focuses on topics that quantitative studies usually overlook due to the lack of data, namely the propensity to out-migrate, legal status at entry, routes of migration, and propensity to return. We show that times of restrictions in Europe do not correspond to less African out-migration, but rather to more unauthorized migration and fewer returns. We further show that trends in African migration differ greatly between historical and new destination countries in Europe.

South-South Migration: With Whom You Trade Matters

ABSTRACT In this article, we empirically investigate the role of regional trade agreements as a potential indirect determinant of international migration on a set of 37 Latin American and Caribbean countries between 1990 and 2015. First, we pre-process the data prior to the estimation using a matching sample technique – entropy – and control for observable characteristics. After that, we use a gravity model for migration and solve the zero migration stocks problem by using the Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood (PPML) approach. Our results deliver consistent estimates and suggest a positive relationship between regional trade agreements and bilateral migration stocks.

The determinants of international migration: Unbundling the role of economic, political and social institutions

AbstractInternational migrants may relocate because of economic, political and social factors in their origin or destination countries. Using global bilateral migration flows from 103 countries over the period 1990–2000, we explore whether emigrants self‐select based on economic, political and social institutions. Our study adds social dimension as a potential determinant of migration and separates the pull and push effects of political, economic and social institutions. Our results indicate that economic, political and social institutions are significant pull factors of migration; economic freedom has the most substantial pull effect followed by the political institutions; social institutions have the weakest pull effect on migration. Moreover, economic and social institutions are significant push factors of migration, while political institutions do not show any push effect. Furthermore, educated migrants are more sensitive to the destination economic, political and social institutions than less‐educated migrants, and less‐educated migrants are more sensitive to the social institutions at the origin.

The Determinants of International Migration in Early Modern Europe: Evidence from the Maritime Sector, c. 1700–1800

ABSTRACTThis article offers the first multivariate regression study of international migration in early modern Europe. Using unique eighteenth-century data about maritime workers, we created a data set of migration flows among European countries to examine the role of factors related to geography, population, language, the market, and chain migration in explaining the migration of these workers across countries. We show that among all factors considered in our multivariate analysis, the geographical characteristics of the destination countries, size of port towns, and past migrations are among the most robust and quantitatively the most important factors influencing cross-country migration flows.

Demoralization-led migration in Bangladesh: A sense of insecurity-based decision-making model

Political hostility, unrest and flawed governance cause insecurity leading to demoralization, which triggers migration. There is a large body of literature on the determinants of international migration that highlights a range of factors to explain the direction and strength of migrant flows. For this research we interviewed 32 respondents who were a control group in a study conducted a decade ago. These respondents were determined not to migrate, but their migration decision was reversed over a period of 10 years. This article explores the relation between a sense of insecurity and the demoralization that influences migration decisions. It further investigates the causes that contributed to this change. As democracy shrinks, authoritarianism expands, implying that there is no accountability. This leads a country to widespread corruption, creating severe social injustices. People in general become demoralized and decide to migrate out. This article adds to the body of work by focusing on whether the migration decision is a response to widespread corruption, prevailing political conditions, violence, conflict, poor governance, an absence of rule of law and freedom or declining of democratic space in Bangladesh.

Food insecurity as a determinant of international migration: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

In this paper, we examined how food insecurity can affect international migration aspirations and subsequent actions taken in preparation to move internationally from Sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing on a conceptual framework of the determinants of migration, we developed a three-stage regression model and tested it using data from the 2014 Gallup World Poll. The results indicate that multiple determinants play different roles in the migration decision process, which is characterized by aspirations, planning and final decision to migrate. Specifically, food insecurity is an important determinant of both the desire and the decision to migrate: food insecurity raises the probability of desiring to migrate internationally, with the probability of the desire increasing along with the severity of food insecurity. However, the probability of actually deciding to migrate internationally decreased as food insecurity worsened. These findings are in line with migration literature stating that the very poor, despite wishing to migrate, face tremendous constraints in transforming this desire into concrete decisions. Our results suggest that removing or reducing constraints to migration will benefit the poorest/most food insecure and highlight the need for an increased and effective coordination between food security and international migration policy agendas.

Gone with the wind: International migration

This paper adds to the literature on the determinants of international migration. First, we offer a joint analysis of the driving forces of migration capturing year-to-year variations and long-run effects. Second, we analyze the dynamic response of migration to shocks to its determinants. We start by presenting a theoretical model that allows us to model migration as an augmented gravity equation. We then construct a rich panel data set with 16 destination and 198 origin countries between 1980 and 2015. We find that climate variables are important drivers of migration flows in our sample. We then estimate a panel vectorautoregressive model showing that the dynamic response of migration is very different across shocks to different driving forces. These findings add to the discussion about the effects of climate shocks on mobility and the concept of trapped population. Our findings carry implications for national and international immigration policies.

The Global Evolution of Travel Visa Regimes.

The Global Evolution of Travel Visa Regimes.

Do Migrants Think Differently? Evidence from Eastern European and Post-Soviet States

This research investigates migrant self-selection on values, beliefs, and attitudes using data from Eastern European and former Soviet countries. We find that individuals who intend to emigrate are more politically active, more critical of governance and institutions, more tolerant toward other cultures, less tolerant of cheating, more optimistic, and less risk averse. With the exception of risk aversion, all selection patterns are heterogeneous across regions of origin. On the other hand, no self-selection pattern is detected on education, willingness to pay for public goods, and economic liberalism. These findings provide new insights into the determinants of international migration and reveal some of its less known consequences, such as a possible reduction of domestic pressure for political improvements in post-Soviet states due to politically active citizens’ higher propensity to emigrate.

A closer look at the determinants of international migration: decomposing cultural distance

ABSTRACTUsing a modified gravity model and three measures of cultural distance, we employ the zero-inflated negative binomial estimation technique to examine the impact of cultural distance on international migration flows. We confirm the finding of prior studies that there exists a negative relationship between composite measures of cultural distance and immigrant flows. Extending the literature, we decompose our composite cultural distance measures into their component dimensions to examine potential variability in the influences of individual dimensions on international migration. We find the cultural dimensions that reflect individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and perceived gender roles are typically more influential in determining immigrant flows than are other cultural dimensions.

Spatial patterns of PhDs’ internal migration in France, 1970-2000

This paper provides empirical insights about interregional flows of PhDs in France over the period 1970-2000. We enhance the existing studies by focusing on the patterns and determinants of internal migration, thanks to management of a rich database. First, we highlight the relatively low mobility of PhDs: less than 36% of them supervise their first PhD in a different region than the one in which they defended their own. Focusing on the structural determinants of these interregional flows, we have then tested a gravity model that demonstrates the significant impact of the scientific size of regions and spatial proximity on the PhDs’ mobility.JEL Codes: J61, O390, I23

The Effect of Visas on Migration Processes

The effectiveness of migration policies has been widely contested. However, because of methodological and conceptual limitations, evidence has remained inconclusive. Moreover, prior studies focus on the effects of policies on inflows and fail to assess the simultaneous effect of policies on outflows. This is essential from a theoretical point of view as immigration restrictions may reduce both inflows and outflows and, hence, overall circulation. This renders the effect of immigration restrictions on net migration theoretically ambiguous. To fill this gap, and using unique migration and visa data from the Determinants of International Migration (DEMIG) project, this paper assesses the short- and long-term effects of travel visa policy regimes on bilateral immigration and emigration dynamics. The results suggest that travel visa policies significantly decrease inflows, but this effect is undermined by decreasing outflows of the same migrant groups. This confirms that migration restrictions decrease circulation and tend to encourage long-term settlement, and thereby sharply reduce the responsiveness of migration to economic fluctuations in destination and origin societies. We also identify asymmetric policy effects with migration flows declining only very gradually after a visa introduction but increasing almost immediately after visa removal.