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Family and Community Obligations Motivate People to Immigrate—A Case Study from the Republic of the Marshall Islands

Author

Listed:
  • Ryo Fujikura

    (Faculty of Sustainability Studies, Hosei University, Chiyodaku, Tokyo 102-8160, Japan)

  • Mikiyasu Nakayama

    (Global Infrastructure Research Foundation, Minatoku, Tokyo 105-0001, Japan)

  • Daisuke Sasaki

    (International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan)

  • Irene Taafaki

    (College of the Marshall Islands, Delap-Uliga-Djarrit, Majuro Atoll 96960, Marshall Islands)

  • Jichao Chen

    (Graduate School of Public Policy and Social Governance, Hosei University, Chiyodaku, Tokyo 102-8160, Japan)

Abstract

A questionnaire survey was conducted in the Marshall Islands among 308 citizens of Majuro in order to analyze the factors that led them to immigrate. Using the results from the questionnaire items that indicate the motivations for emigration as independent variables, we extracted the factors with significantly high correlation coefficients; they suggest that the desire to escape from the many obligations within the family and regional community are predominant push factors for migrating overseas while the economic disparity between the United State and their home countries are predominant pull factors. Independently, the Permutation Feature Importance was used to extract the salient factors motivating migration, which provides similar results. Furthermore, the result of structural equation modeling verified the hypothesis that an escape from many obligations and economic disparity is a major motivation for migration at a significance level of 0.1%.

Suggested Citation

  • Ryo Fujikura & Mikiyasu Nakayama & Daisuke Sasaki & Irene Taafaki & Jichao Chen, 2023. "Family and Community Obligations Motivate People to Immigrate—A Case Study from the Republic of the Marshall Islands," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(8), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:8:p:5448-:d:1119480
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    References listed on IDEAS

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