Patterns and Determinants of Internal Migration in the Arab Countries: The Case of Egypt

The main objective of this study is to analyze and test the patterns and determinants of inter-governorate migration flows in Egypt by direction of move. Four directional moves of internal migration have been distinguished and employed in the study. Data analysis shows that the highest migration occurs between urban areas followed by rural to urban areas, whereas the lowest occurs between rural areas of different governorates. The empirical results indicate that distance is one of the most important variables in explaining the spatial distribution of migrants in Egypt. Distance elasticity differs from one directional move to another. The results suggest that low-income levels in Egyptian rural governorates tend to encourage people to move toward high-income governorates. Also, the results indicate that migration to rural governorates is more responsive to destination education than urban governorates. The employment rate variable is found to be a major determinant of the individual's decision to migrate in Egypt. Higher rates of origin unemployment tend to encourage migration from rural to urban areas, and higher rates of destination unemployment tend to discourage migration to rural and urban areas. Migration to urban areas is more responsive to unemployment than migration to rural areas.