Networks and the location of foreign migrants: evidence for Southern Europe

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of co-national immigrant´s communities (social networks) and historical international trade relationships (business networks) on the decision of migrants to locate in a particular province within Italy, Portugal and Spain. We check whether these decisions are locally bounded or spur in neighboring territories and find that spatial dependence matters. Once it is accounted for, social networks enhance immigration of co-nationals, a positive effect that is moderated if contiguous provinces have large co-nationals communities. For the case of business networks, contiguous provinces having commercial linkages with the immigrants’ origin country compete as alternative destinations.