Empirical research on the determinants of international migration including the LDCs has so far neglected one important issue: the complex relationship of development and migration. Since the beginning of the 1990s several arguments have been discussed which hint at the possibility that progress in development of less developed regions might lead to more migration, even if income differentials to the potential destination regions decrease. This paper presents these arguments and tests them for the case of migration to Germany from 86 Asian and African countries from 1981 to 1995. The results confirm the importance of dissolving financial restrictions on migration, migration networks, and changes in the societal structure of the sending countries as well as the existence of a home preference. It is shown, however, that population growth does not necessarily lead to more international migration. The estimations also control for the political situation in the home countries and for institutional measures in the host country.
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Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number
46.
Find related papers by JEL classification: F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration O15 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration O19 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - International Linkages to Development; Role of International Organizations
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Timothy Hatton & Jeffery Williamson, 2002.
"What Fundamentals Drive World Migration?,"
CEPR Discussion Papers
458, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University.
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