IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/empiri/v46y2019i1d10.1007_s10663-018-9417-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social capital and willingness to migrate in post-communist countries

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Huber

    (Austrian Institute of Economic Research)

  • Stepan Mikula

    (Masaryk University)

Abstract

We analyse the correlation of various measures of social capital with the willingness to migrate in 28 post-communist and five western European comparison countries using the Life in Transition Survey. Memberships in clubs and civil society organisations are substantially lower in post-communist countries that in the Western European countries this is mainly due to the cohorts socialised prior to political reforms in the 1990’s. Differences in endowments with this measure of social capital explain around 2.5 percentage points of the 9–11 percentage point difference in the willingness to migrate between the post-communist and comparison countries. Differences in contacts to friends and family, by contrast, contribute only little to explaining these differences. Furthermore, despite clear cohort effects in endowments with social capital between cohorts socialized during and after communist rule, there is no clear evidence of such cohort effects in the impact of social capital on the willingness to migrate.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Huber & Stepan Mikula, 2019. "Social capital and willingness to migrate in post-communist countries," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 31-59, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:empiri:v:46:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s10663-018-9417-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10663-018-9417-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10663-018-9417-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10663-018-9417-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/5l6uh8ogmqildh09h482kc28p is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Peter Huber, 2005. "Inter-regional Mobility in the Accession Countries: A Comparison to EU-15 Member States," WIFO Working Papers 249, WIFO.
    3. Liqiu Zhao & Xianguo Yao, 2017. "Does local social capital deter labour migration? Evidence from rural China," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(43), pages 4363-4377, September.
    4. Fidrmuc, Jan, 2004. "Migration and regional adjustment to asymmetric shocks in transition economies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 230-247, June.
    5. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5l6uh8ogmqildh09h482kc28p is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Helmut Rainer & Thomas Siedler, 2009. "The role of social networks in determining migration and labour market outcomes," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 17(4), pages 739-767, October.
    7. Guido Tabellini, 2010. "Culture and Institutions: Economic Development in the Regions of Europe," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 8(4), pages 677-716, June.
    8. Yuri Andrienko & Sergei Guriev, 2004. "Determinants of interregional mobility in Russia," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 12(1), pages 1-27, March.
    9. Fidrmuc, Jan & Gërxhani, Klarita, 2008. "Mind the gap! Social capital, East and West," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 264-286, June.
    10. David, Quentin & Janiak, Alexandre & Wasmer, Etienne, 2010. "Local social capital and geographical mobility," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 191-204, September.
    11. Broulíková, Hana M. & Huber, Peter & Montag, Josef & Sunega, Petr, 2020. "Homeownership, mobility, and unemployment: Evidence from housing privatization," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    12. Floro Ernesto Caroleo & Francesco Pastore (ed.), 2010. "The Labour Market Impact of the EU Enlargement," AIEL Series in Labour Economics, Springer, number 978-3-7908-2164-2, December.
    13. Cojocaru, Alexandru, 2014. "Fairness and inequality tolerance: Evidence from the Life in Transition Survey," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 590-608.
    14. Sascha O. Becker & Katrin Boeckh & Christa Hainz & Ludger Woessmann, 2016. "The Empire Is Dead, Long Live the Empire! Long‐Run Persistence of Trust and Corruption in the Bureaucracy," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(590), pages 40-74, February.
    15. Pierella Paci & Erwin R. Tiongson & Mateusz Walewski & Jacek Liwinski, 2010. "Internal Labour Mobility in Central Europe and the Baltic Region: Evidence from Labour Force Surveys," AIEL Series in Labour Economics, in: Floro Ernesto Caroleo & Francesco Pastore (ed.), The Labour Market Impact of the EU Enlargement. A New Regional Geography of Europe?, edition 1, chapter 8, pages 197-225, AIEL - Associazione Italiana Economisti del Lavoro.
    16. Peter Huber & Klaus Nowotny, 2016. "The Impact Of Relative Deprivation On Return Intentions Among Potential Migrants And Commuters," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 471-493, June.
    17. van Dalen, H.P. & Henkens, K., 2008. "Emigration Intentions : Mere Words or True Plans? Explaining International Migration Intentions and Behavior," Other publications TiSEM d78ea768-e1d5-4a80-baff-2, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    18. Boenisch, Peter & Schneider, Lutz, 2013. "The social capital legacy of communism-results from the Berlin Wall experiment," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 391-411.
    19. Huber, Peter, 2004. "Inter-regional mobility in the accession countries : a comparison with EU15 member states," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 37(4), pages 393-408.
    20. Cristina Cattaneo, 2016. "Opting in to Opt out? Emigration and Group Participation in Albania," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(4), pages 1046-1075, December.
    21. Michèle Belot & John Ermisch, 2009. "Friendship ties and geographical mobility: evidence from Great Britain," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 172(2), pages 427-442, April.
    22. Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), 2005. "Handbook of Economic Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    23. Kan, Kamhon, 2007. "Residential mobility and social capital," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 436-457, May.
    24. Peter Ester & Ruud Muffels & Joop Schippers & Ton Wilthagen (ed.), 2008. "Innovating European Labour Markets," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13212.
    25. Peter Bönisch & Lutz Schneider, 2010. "Why Are East Germans Not More Mobile?: Analyzing the Impact of Local Networks on Migration Intentions," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 334, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    26. Nikolova, Elena & Sanfey, Peter, 2016. "How much should we trust life satisfaction data? Evidence from the Life in Transition Survey," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 720-731.
    27. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/5l6uh8ogmqildh09h482kc28p is not listed on IDEAS
    28. Rainer, Helmut & Siedler, Thomas, 2009. "The role of social networks in determining migration and labour market outcomes: Evidence from German reunification," Munich Reprints in Economics 19783, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    29. Floro Ernesto Caroleo & Francesco Pastore (ed.), 2010. "The Labour Market Impact of the EU Enlargement. A New Regional Geography of Europe?," AIEL Series in Labour Economics, AIEL - Associazione Italiana Economisti del Lavoro, number 04, November.
    30. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/5l6uh8ogmqildh09h482kc28p is not listed on IDEAS
    31. van Dalen, H.P. & Henkens, K., 2008. "Emigration Intentions : Mere Words or True Plans? Explaining International Migration Intentions and Behavior," Other publications TiSEM d78ea768-e1d5-4a80-baff-2, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jiří Balcar & Jan Šulák, 2021. "Urban environmental quality and out-migration intentions," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 66(3), pages 579-607, June.
    2. Costa-Font, Joan & Nicińska, Anna, 2023. "Comrades in the family? Soviet communism and demand for family insurance," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118472, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Martin Guzi & Štěpán Mikula, 2022. "Reforms that keep you at home: The effects of economic transition on migration," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 289-310, April.
    4. Joan Costa‐Font & Anna Nicińska, 2023. "Comrades in the family? Soviet communism and demand for family insurance," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(4), pages 526-612, November.
    5. Luca Andriani & Gaygysyz Ashyrov, 2022. "Corruption and life satisfaction: Evidence from a transition survey," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(4), pages 511-535, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peter Huber & Klaus Nowotny, 2020. "Risk aversion and the willingness to migrate in 30 transition countries," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(4), pages 1463-1498, October.
    2. Peter Huber & Stepan Mikula, 2018. "Social Capital and Migration Intentions in Post-Communist Countries," WIFO Working Papers 550, WIFO.
    3. Boenisch, Peter & Schneider, Lutz, 2013. "The social capital legacy of communism-results from the Berlin Wall experiment," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 391-411.
    4. Bönisch, Peter & Schneider, Lutz, 2010. "Why are East Germans not More Mobile? Analyzing the Impact of Social Ties on Regional Migration," IWH Discussion Papers 16/2010, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    5. Peter Huber & Josef Montag, 2020. "Homeownership, Political Participation, and Social Capital in Post‐Communist Countries and Western Europe," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(1), pages 96-119, February.
    6. Breinlich, Holger & Ottaviano, Gianmarco I.P. & Temple, Jonathan R.W., 2014. "Regional Growth and Regional Decline," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 4, pages 683-779, Elsevier.
    7. Julie L. Hotchkiss & Anil Rupasingha, 2021. "Individual social capital and migration," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 808-837, June.
    8. Guzi, Martin & Huber, Peter & Mikula, Štěpán, 2021. "The long-term impact of the resettlement of the Sudetenland on residential migration," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    9. Aldashev, Alisher & Dietz, Barbara, 2014. "Economic and spatial determinants of interregional migration in Kazakhstan," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 379-396.
    10. Diemer, Andreas, 2023. "Divided we fall? The effect of manufacturing decline on the social capital of US communities," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 120355, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. repec:esx:essedp:729 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. László Lőrincz & Brigitta Németh, 2022. "How Social Capital is Related to Migration Between Communities?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(5), pages 1119-1143, December.
    13. Julia Jauer & Thomas Liebig & John P. Martin & Patrick Puhani, 2014. "Migration as an Adjustment Mechanism in the Crisis? A Comparison of Europe and the United States," Working Paper Series in Economics 331, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    14. Julie L. Hotchkiss & Anil Rupasingha & Thor Watson, 2022. "In-migration and Dilution of Community Social Capital," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 45(1), pages 36-57, January.
    15. Caliendo, Marco & Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Hennecke, Juliane & Uhlendorff, Arne, 2019. "Locus of control and internal migration," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    16. Jesús Peiró-Palomino, 2016. "Social Capital and Economic Growth in Europe: Nonlinear Trends and Heterogeneous Regional Effects," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 78(5), pages 717-751, October.
    17. Caliendo, Marco & Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Hennecke, Juliane & Uhlendorff, Arne, 2019. "Locus of control and internal migration," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    18. Eiji Yamamura, 2017. "Inherited social capital and residential mobility: A study using Japan panel data," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 37(1), pages 579-558.
    19. Eiji Yamamura & Chisako Yamane & Shoko Yamane & Yoshiro Tsutsui, 2022. "Effect of major disasters on geographic mobility intentions: the case of the Fukushima nuclear accident," Chapters, in: Mark Skidmore (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Disasters, chapter 14, pages 275-291, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. Philippe Wanner & Marco Pecoraro & Massimiliano Tani, 2021. "Does Educational Mismatch Affect Emigration Behaviour?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 37(4), pages 959-995, November.
    21. John Ermisch & Fiona Steele, 2016. "Fertility expectations and residential mobility in Britain," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 35(54), pages 1561-1584.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:empiri:v:46:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s10663-018-9417-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.