Determinants Of Migration Flows Research Articles

Determinants of Migration Flows in Highly Skilled Migrants Interprovince in Indonesia

Migration and regional inequality are two interrelated concepts. Inequality between regions can lead to migration. High-skilled migration, or migration of high-quality human resources, has great potential to reduce interregional disparities by helping development in the destination area. However, in reality, the flow of high-skilled migration tends to lead to more advanced provinces, especially the capital and its surroundings. This condition causes disparities between regions to increase. This study analyzes the phenomenon of internal high-skilled migration between provinces in Indonesia at a macro level using a modified gravity model approach and is estimated using the zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) model. The results of this study show that the number of high-skilled populations in the provinces of origin and destination, geographical distance, average wages for workers, and the percentage of agricultural workers in the destination province, as well as the stock of migrants, influence the flow of high skilled migration between provinces in Indonesia. Increasing workers’ wages, access to transportation and information/social networks, as well as industrialization outside Java, need to be carried out to attract high-skilled migrants or keep high-skilled workers to remain in their provinces to realize equity between regions.

The effect of environmental change on out-migration in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest

We study how environmental change affects out-migration in the Brazilian Amazon using census data on municipal-level migration flows between 2005 and 2010. We characterize environmental change in terms of increases in municipal deforested area and gradual changes in temperature and precipitation as well as extreme weather events. Our empirical analysis is based on gravity models of migration, which consider simultaneously characteristics of origins and destinations as determinants of migration flows, treating for potential sources of endogeneity. We find evidence that out-migration from the Amazon region of Brazil is mainly associated with prior levels of deforestation, which is partially explained by the life cycle channel: a younger generation leaving the old frontier of colonization to an aging population. Furthermore, the links between environmental change and migration are more evident in the context of rural-urban and intra-regional migration, contributing to the process of urbanization in the Amazon.

International migration and trade agreements: The new role of PTAs

AbstractThis paper provides an empirical analysis of the relationship between preferential trade agreements (PTAs) and bilateral migration flows. Building on the empirical literature on the determinants of migration flows, I estimate a modified gravity model to assess the role of PTAs and their content on bilateral migration flows. Using a sample of 29 OECD destination countries over the period 1998–2008, I show a strong positive effect of PTAs on bilateral migration flows. I find that the content of PTAs also matters: when visa‐and‐asylum and labour market related provisions are included in PTAs, this further stimulates bilateral migration flows. Different estimation strategies, including instrumental variables, are employed to address the potential endogeneity bias problems related to PTAs and their content.

EU enlargement and the race to the bottom of welfare states

Abstract After the introduction of the freedom of movement for Eastern European workers, EU-15 countries were expected to reduce public benefits in order to avoid becoming “welfare magnets”. However, OECD data do not support the prediction of a race to the bottom in benefit levels. Using EU-LFS data, I analyze the determinants of migration flows and do not find evidence that welfare state variables affect migration flows when controlling for temporary political restrictions of the freedom of movement. This explains why the pressure to modify welfare spending is small. Furthermore, evidence is found that the restrictions offset the migration incentive effects of work-related pull factors.

Two Centuries of International Migration

This is a draft chapter for B. R. Chiswick and P. W. Miller (eds.) Handbook on the Economics of International Migration. It provides an overview of trends and developments in international migration since the industrial revolution. We focus principally on long-distance migration to rich destination countries, the settler economies in the nineteenth century and later the OECD. The chapter describes the structure, direction and determinants of migration flows and the assimilation experience of migrants. It also examines the impact of migration on destination and source countries, and explores the political economy behind the evolution of immigration policy. We provide an historical context for current debates on immigration and immigration policy and we conclude by speculating on future trends.

Inequality and migration: what different European patterns of migration tell us

Migration flows are often thought of as stemming from a reserve army of labour from developing countries, putting downward pressure on wages of low‐qualified workers in developed countries. This paper analyses the major determinants of migration flows among European countries and stresses their diversity through a combination of labour market factors in receiving countries and network effects attached to countries of origin. The first part of the paper describes the changes in the dynamics of European migration flows. The second part estimates a reduced form of model of the relative determinants of migration flows, distinguishing between labour market and network effects. The results of these estimations lead to a distinction among various ‘regimes of labour migration’ among European countries. These are briefly compared with the pattern of migration observed in the US.

Migration and Labour Market Integration in Late Nineteenth‐Century England and Wales

This study examines aspects of internal labor migration in late nineteenth-century Britain. section I a simple framework is set out which stresses the links between migration and labour market integration. In section II the evidence on the character of migration flows their magnitude and direction is examined. Section III focuses on the determinants of migration flows at the county level particularly from rural southern counties. This is followed in section IV with an examination of the effect of rural-urban migration on agricultural wage rates. Section V considers the evidence on regional labour market integration and is followed by a brief conclusion summarising the results. (EXCERPT)