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Out of Africa: What drives the Pressure to emigrate?

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Author Info

  • Hendrik P. van Dalen

    () (OCFEB, Faculty of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam)

  • George Groenewold

    () (Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute)

  • Jeanette J. Schoorl

    () (Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute)

Abstract

This paper evaluates the strength of social and economic forces that affect the pressure to emigrate 'out of Africa' for four distinctly different African countries (Morocco, Egypt, Senegal and Ghana). In general, great expectations about attaining a higher living standard and expected low job search costs abroad are strong forces that drive emigration intentions out of Africa, especially in Ghana and Senegal. Signs of positive selection with respect to the level of education of potential migrants are only present in Ghana and Egypt. The differences in intentions by age and sex are also quite noteworthy, although the influence of sex differs quite distinctly across countries. Return migrants are on average more set to emigrating judging from their stated intentions although there are signs of negative selection within the group of return migrants in Ghana and Egypt. The network effects of potential migrants turn out to be less important than one might expect from actual migration behaviour. Both ties within the household with household members who have international migration experience and ties with current migrants affect intentions only in Ghana and Egypt and it affects the intentions of women far stronger than that of men. The implication of these findings is that due to the slow growth prospects of these African countries the pressure to emigrate 'out of Africa' can be a long lasting phenomenon.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Tinbergen Institute in its series Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers with number 03-059/3.

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Date of creation: 09 Jul 2003
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Handle: RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20030059

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Keywords: migration; intentions; Africa; social networks.;

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References

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Görlich, Dennis & Trebesch, Christoph, 2006. "Mass migration and seasonality: Evidence on Moldova's labour exodus," Center for European, Governance and Economic Development Research Discussion Papers 56, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
  2. Hendrik van Dalen & Kene Henkens, 2005. "The Rationality Behind Immigration Policy Preferences," De Economist, Springer, vol. 153(1), pages 67-83, December.
  3. Hendrik P. van Dalen & Kène Henkens, 2006. "When the Quality of a Nation triggers Emigration," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 06-026/1, Tinbergen Institute.
  4. Hendrik P. van Dalen, 2007. "Global Aging and Economic Convergence: A Real Option or Still a Case of Science Fiction?," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 07-051/1, Tinbergen Institute.
  5. Dalen, H.P. van & Groenewold, G. & Fokkema, T., 2005. "Remittances and their effect on emigration intentions in Egypt, Morocco, and Turkey," Open Access publications from Tilburg University urn:nbn:nl:ui:12-3107483, Tilburg University.
  6. Annett Fleischer, 2006. "Family, obligations, and migration: the role of kinship in Cameroon," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2006-047, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
  7. Annett Fleischer, 2007. "Family, obligations, and migration," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 16(13), pages 413-440, May.
  8. Dimova, Ralitza & Wolff, François-Charles, 2009. "Remittances and Chain Migration: Longitudinal Evidence from Bosnia and Herzegovina," IZA Discussion Papers 4083, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  9. Dalen, H.P. van & Henkens, C.J.I.M., 2009. "Invisible barriers in international labour migration: The case of the Netherlands," Discussion Paper 2009-16, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
  10. Görlich, Dennis & Trebesch, Christoph, 2008. "Seasonal migration and networks : evidence on Moldova's labour exodus," Open Access publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy info:hdl:10419/4282, Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
  11. Hatton, Timothy J. & Williamson, Jeffrey G., 2011. "Are Third World Emigration Forces Abating?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 20-32, January.
  12. Avato, Johanna, 2009. "Migration pressures and immigration policies : new evidence on the selection of migrants," Social Protection Discussion Papers 52449, The World Bank.

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