Migration Theories and Evidence: An Assessment

Abstract

This paper presents a critical survey of theories of migration, their welfare and policy implications and their empirical relevance. We also develop some extensions to the theory beginning with the Hams and Todaro (HT) model. In particular, the HT model is extended to examine risk averse behaviour within families where the migration of members of families serves to diversify risk. The welfare implications of the individual migration decision and government intervention in the form of employment subsidies are examined. Recent evidence on international migration is presented. It is shown that migration does not flow automatically in response to wage differentials. Characteristics of migrants and the process of self-selection are found to be important determinants of the rate of migration.

Household Migration Decisions as Survival Strategy: The Case of Burkina Faso

“…Similarly, most trade theories emphasize factor mobility as an important policy instrument to achieve a high level of economic development. As mentioned by Ghatak, Levine and Price (1996), recent evidence seems to underline the case for adopting economic policies, which would: (a) Re-allocate labor from low productivity to high productivity areas. Migration is socially desirable as long as it transfers labor from low to high productivity areas; and (b) Promote factor mobility and improve efficiency of the tradable sector so that trade could be regarded as an engine of economic growth.…”

“…In their survey Ghatak, Levine and Price (1996) argued that evidence on international migration showed that migration does not flow automatically in response to wage differentials. Characteristics of migrants and the process of self-selection are found to be important determinants of the rate of migration.…”

“…Thus, if future earnings are uncertain and imperfectly but positively related in a geographically specific area, the migration policy of a member of the income-pooling family diversifies risk (Stark, 1991). Ghatak, Levine and Price (1996) formalized some of the premises of the NELM by generalizing the above HT model. The idea that migration results from a family's optimizing decisions implies a choice concerning which 5 family member(s) migrate to maximize remittances to the home family.…”

The influence of taxes on migration: evidence from Switzerland

“…A large and varied body of work exists on the determinants of migration, each study focusing on particular aspects of the migration decision (see Ghatak et al, 1996, for an overview). Likewise, a substantial amount of both theoretical and empirical literature addresses the economic effects of tax competition on individuals and households (see Wilson, 1999, for an overview).…”

Migration Across Spanish Provinces: Evidence from the Social Security Records (1978-1992)

“…Population size can itself in uence migration if people care about the dimension of the province for instance, big cities could be preferred because of the easier access to services . Moreover, the total number of vacancies arising in a province j is proportional to j's population size, because of the natural turnover of its labor force 17 . Since we do not have data on vacancies by provinces, they are proxied by population size.…”