IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v115y2014i1p159-182.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is Subjective Well-Being of Concern to Potential Migrants from Latin America?

Author

Listed:
  • Namrata Chindarkar

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of life satisfaction on intention to migrate abroad using survey data on 18 Latin American countries. Three key findings emerge that support life satisfaction as a significant driver of intention to migrate abroad. First, the findings suggest that reporting high life satisfaction is negatively associated with intention to migrate abroad controlling for education and other background factors. Second, I find a consistently negative and significant effect of the interaction between high life satisfaction and education suggesting that more educated individuals reporting high life satisfaction are less likely to consider migrating abroad as compared to more educated individuals reporting low life satisfaction. And third, even after controlling for consumption and relative deprivation the negative effect of the high life satisfaction and education interaction term on intention to migrate abroad remains statistically significant suggesting that international migration decisions of those with higher education are not solely driven by economic motives. In addition, I find that those who are highly educated (college and higher) are more likely to consider migrating abroad, holding life satisfaction, consumption, and relative deprivation constant, mainly due to weak economic outlook of and low wages in the home country. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Namrata Chindarkar, 2014. "Is Subjective Well-Being of Concern to Potential Migrants from Latin America?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(1), pages 159-182, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:115:y:2014:i:1:p:159-182
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-012-0213-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11205-012-0213-7
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11205-012-0213-7?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. Angus S. Deaton & Christina Paxson, 2001. "Mortality, Education, Income, and Inequality among American Cohorts," NBER Chapters, in: Themes in the Economics of Aging, pages 129-170, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Fafchamps, Marcel & Shilpi, Forhad, 2008. "Subjective welfare, isolation, and relative consumption," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 43-60, April.
    3. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2004. "Well-being over time in Britain and the USA," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1359-1386, July.
    4. Martin Ravallion & Michael Lokshin, 2001. "Identifying Welfare Effects from Subjective Questions," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 68(271), pages 335-357, August.
    5. Erzo F. P. Luttmer, 2005. "Neighbors as Negatives: Relative Earnings and Well-Being," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(3), pages 963-1002.
    6. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2002. "What Can Economists Learn from Happiness Research?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 402-435, June.
    7. Clark, Andrew E. & Oswald, Andrew J., 1996. "Satisfaction and comparison income," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 359-381, September.
    8. Liu, Ben-chieh, 1975. "Differential Net Migration Rates and the Quality of Life," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 57(3), pages 329-337, August.
    9. Chang‐tseh Hsieh & Ben‐chieh Liu, 1983. "The Pursuance of Better Quality of life: In the Long Run, Better Quality of Social Life Is the Most Important Factor in Migration," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(4), pages 431-440, October.
    10. Stark, Oded, 1984. "Rural-to-Urban Migration in LDCs: A Relative Deprivation Approach," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(3), pages 475-486, April.
    11. McBride, Michael, 2001. "Relative-income effects on subjective well-being in the cross-section," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 251-278, July.
    12. Andrew E. Clark & Paul Frijters & Michael A. Shields, 2008. "Relative Income, Happiness, and Utility: An Explanation for the Easterlin Paradox and Other Puzzles," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 95-144, March.
    13. Sendhil Mullainathan & Marianne Bertrand, 2001. "Do People Mean What They Say? Implications for Subjective Survey Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(2), pages 67-72, May.
    14. KNIGHT, John & SONG, Lina & GUNATILAKA, Ramani, 2009. "Subjective well-being and its determinants in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 635-649, December.
    15. John F. Helliwell & Christopher P. Barrington-Leigh, 2010. "Measuring and Understanding Subjective Well-Being," NBER Working Papers 15887, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada, 2005. "Income and well-being: an empirical analysis of the comparison income effect," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(5-6), pages 997-1019, June.
    17. Magdalena Bobowik & Nekane Basabe & Darío Páez & Amaia Jiménez & M. Bilbao, 2011. "Personal Values and Well-Being among Europeans, Spanish Natives and Immigrants to Spain: Does the Culture Matter?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 401-419, June.
    18. David Bartram, 2011. "Economic Migration and Happiness: Comparing Immigrants’ and Natives’ Happiness Gains From Income," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 103(1), pages 57-76, August.
    19. Ed Diener & Eunkook Suh, 1997. "Measuring Quality Of Life: Economic, Social, And Subjective Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 189-216, January.
    20. C. Graham & S. Pettinato, 2002. "Frustrated Achievers: Winners, Losers and Subjective Well-Being in New Market Economies," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(4), pages 100-140.
    21. Ruut Veenhoven, 1991. "Is happiness relative?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1-34, February.
    22. Deaton, Angus, 1985. "Panel data from time series of cross-sections," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1-2), pages 109-126.
    23. Stark, Oded & Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 1988. "Labour Migration as a Response to Relative Deprivation," MPRA Paper 21670, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    24. Stark, Oded & Taylor, J Edward, 1991. "Migration Incentives, Migration Types: The Role of Relative Deprivation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(408), pages 1163-1178, September.
    25. Carol Graham & Andrew Felton, 2006. "Inequality and happiness: Insights from Latin America," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 4(1), pages 107-122, April.
    26. Oded Stark & J. Taylor, 1989. "Relative deprivation and international migration oded stark," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 26(1), pages 1-14, February.
    27. Graham, Carol & Eggers, Andrew & Sukhtankar, Sandip, 2004. "Does happiness pay?: An exploration based on panel data from Russia," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 319-342, November.
    28. Daniel Kahneman & Alan B. Krueger, 2006. "Developments in the Measurement of Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 3-24, Winter.
    29. Cebula, Richard & Vedder, Richard, 1972. "A Note on Migration, Economic Opportunity, and the Quality of Life," MPRA Paper 49824, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 Jul 1972.
    30. Thomas Liebig & Alfonso Sousa‐Poza, 2004. "Migration, Self‐Selection and Income Inequality: An International Analysis," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(1), pages 125-146, February.
    31. Rafael Di Tella & Robert MacCulloch, 2006. "Some Uses of Happiness Data in Economics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 25-46, Winter.
    32. Meng-Wen Tsou & Jin-Tan Liu, 2001. "Happiness and Domain Satisfaction in Taiwan," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 269-288, September.
    33. Nattavudh Powdthavee, 2009. "How important is rank to individual perception of economic standing? A within-community analysis," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 7(3), pages 225-248, September.
    34. repec:bla:econom:v:68:y:2001:i:271:p:335-57 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. repec:osf:osfxxx:rn2qe_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Nikolova, Milena & Graham, Carol, 2015. "In transit: The well-being of migrants from transition and post-transition countries," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 164-186.
    3. Zsóka Kóczán, 2016. "(Why) are immigrants unhappy?," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-25, December.
    4. 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.
    5. Amany A. El Anshasy & Mrittika Shamsuddin & Marina-Selini Katsaiti, 2023. "Financial Wellbeing and International Migration Intentions: Evidence from Global Surveys," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(7), pages 2261-2289, October.
    6. Artjoms Ivlevs, 2015. "Happy Moves? Assessing the Link between Life Satisfaction and Emigration Intentions," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(3), pages 335-356, August.
    7. Aurelian-Petruș Plopeanu & Daniel Homocianu & Nelu Florea & Ovidiu-Aurel Ghiuță & Dinu Airinei, 2019. "Comparative Patterns of Migration Intentions: Evidence from Eastern European Students in Economics from Romania and Republic of Moldova," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-21, September.
    8. Z. Eylem Gevrek & Pinar Kunt & Heinrich W. Ursprung, 2021. "Education, political discontent, and emigration intentions: evidence from a natural experiment in Turkey," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 186(3), pages 563-585, March.
    9. Neda Hashemi & Maryam Marzban & Bernadette Sebar & Neil Harris, 2021. "Perceived discrimination and subjective well-being among Middle Eastern migrants in Australia: The moderating role of perceived social support," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 67(2), pages 110-119, March.
    10. Elena Samarsky, 2020. "Who is Thinking of Leaving Germany? The Role of Postmaterialism, Risk Attitudes, and Life-Satisfaction on Emigration Intentions of German Nationals," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1066, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    11. Julia Reinold & Melissa Siegel, 2025. "First Impressions Matter: Feeling Welcome and Onward Migration Intentions of Highly Skilled Migrants," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 543-571, March.
    12. Luciana Méndez, 2020. "So Dissatisfied to Leave? The Role of Perceptions, Expectations and Beliefs on Youths’ Intention to Migrate: Evidence from a Developing Country," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(8), pages 2981-3006, December.
    13. Artjoms Ivlevs, 2014. "Happy moves? Assessing the impact of subjective well-being on the emigration decision," Working Papers 20141402, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol.
    14. Carol Graham, 2015. "A Review of William Easterly's The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators, and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 53(1), pages 92-101, March.
    15. Quy Van Khuc & Minh-Hoang Nguyen & Tam-Tri Le & Truc-Le Nguyen & Thuy Nguyen & Hoang Khac Lich & Quan-Hoang Vuong, 2022. "Brain Drain out of the Blue: Pollution-Induced Migration in Vietnam," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-20, March.
    16. Mrittika Shamsuddin & Marina-Selini Katsaiti, 2020. "Migration and Happiness: Evidence from Germany," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(8), pages 2931-2955, December.
    17. Milasi Santo, 2020. "What Drives Youth’s Intention to Migrate Abroad? Evidence from International Survey Data," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-30, January.
    18. Chenevier, Randall & Piper, Alan T. & Willis, Craig, 2021. "Migration, crime and life satisfaction in Chile: Pre and post-migration evidence," MPRA Paper 106502, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Xueqiong Zhou & Wenhao Feng, 2023. "Investigating the Impact of Demographic and Personal Variables on Post-Retirement Migration Intention of Rural Residents: Evidence from Inner Mongolia, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-17, September.
    20. Luciana Méndez, 2017. "So dissatisfied to leave? The role of perceptions, expectations and beliefs on youths' intention to migrate," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 17-12, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    21. Artjoms Ivlevs, 2014. "Happiness and the emigration decision," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-96, October.
    22. repec:grz:wpsses:2021-07 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. David Bartram, 2015. "Inverting the Logic of Economic Migration: Happiness Among Migrants Moving from Wealthier to Poorer Countries in Europe," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(5), pages 1211-1230, October.
    24. Stöhr, Christian, 2022. "The Effect of Micro-Entrepreneurship on Migration Plans of Young Adults in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediating Role of Subjective and Economic Well-Being," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 7(5), pages 1326-1360.
    25. Bellaumay, Rémy, 2023. "Migration for Happiness?," Notes de l'Observatoire du bien-être 2316b, CEPREMAP.

    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. Senik, Claudia, 2009. "Direct evidence on income comparisons and their welfare effects," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 408-424, October.
    2. Andrew E. Clark & Claudia Senik, 2010. "Will GDP growth increase happiness in developing countries?," PSE Working Papers halshs-00564985, HAL.
    3. Eduardo Pérez-Asenjo, 2011. "If happiness is relative, against whom do we compare ourselves? Implications for labour supply," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(4), pages 1411-1442, October.
    4. Silvia Maja Melzer & Ruud J. Muffels, 2012. "Migrant's Pursuit of Happiness: The Impact of Adaption, Social Comparison and Relative Deprivation; Evidence from a 'Natural' Experiment," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 448, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    5. Alexandru Cojocaru, 2016. "Does Relative Deprivation Matter in Developing Countries: Evidence from Six Transition Economies," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 125(3), pages 735-756, February.
    6. 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.
    7. Andrew E. Clark & Paul Frijters & Michael A. Shields, 2006. "Income and happiness: Evidence, explanations and economic implications," PSE Working Papers halshs-00590436, HAL.
    8. Vinod Mishra & Ingrid Nielsen & Russell Smyth, 2010. "Relative Income, Temporary Life Shocks and Subjective Wellbeing in the Long-run," Monash Economics Working Papers 51-10, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    9. Molnár, György & Kapitány, Zsuzsa, 2006. "Mobilitás, bizonytalanság és szubjektív jóllét Magyarországon [Mobility, uncertainty and subjective welfare in Hungary]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(10), pages 845-872.
    10. Van Landeghem, Bert & Swinnen, Johan F.M. & Vranken, Liesbet, 2008. "Land and Happiness: Land Distribution and Subjective Well-Being in Moldova," 2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium 44375, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. Nikolaev, Boris, 2016. "Does other people's education make us less happy?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 176-191.
    12. Drakopoulos, Stavros, 2011. "Hierarchical Needs, Income Comparisons and Happiness Levels," MPRA Paper 48343, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Hajdu, Tamás & Hajdu, Gábor, 2011. "A hasznosság és a relatív jövedelem kapcsolatának vizsgálata magyar adatok segítségével [Examining the relation of utility and relative income using Hungarian data]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 56-73.
    14. Ravallion, Martin & Himelein, Kristen & Beegle, Kathleen, 2013. "Can subjective questions on economic welfare be trusted ? evidence for three developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6726, The World Bank.
    15. Santiago Budria, 2013. "Are Relative-Income Effects Constant Across the Well-Being Distribution?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 1379-1408, August.
    16. Diriwaechter, Patric & Shvartsman, Elena, 2018. "The anticipation and adaptation effects of intra- and interpersonal wage changes on job satisfaction," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 116-140.
    17. Abel Brodeur & Sarah Flèche, 2019. "Neighbors' Income, Public Goods, and Well‐Being," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(2), pages 217-238, June.
    18. Akay, Alpaslan & Bargain, Olivier & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2012. "Relative concerns of rural-to-urban migrants in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 421-441.
    19. Ahmadiani, Mona & Ferreira, Susana, 2019. "Environmental amenities and quality of life across the United States," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    20. Fengyu Wu, 2020. "An Examination of the Effects of Consumption Expenditures on Life Satisfaction in Australia," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(8), pages 2735-2771, December.

    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:spr:soinre:v:115:y:2014:i:1:p:159-182. 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.