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

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  • Namrata Chindarkar

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    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

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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11205-012-0213-7
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    Article provided by Springer in its journal Social Indicators Research.

    Volume (Year): 115 (2014)
    Issue (Month): 1 (January)
    Pages: 159-182

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    Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:115:y:2014:i:1:p:159-182
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    Order Information: Web: http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11135

    Keywords: Subjective well-being; Life satisfaction; Relative deprivation; Intention to migrate;

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    Cited by:

    1. Artjoms Ivlevs, 2014. "Happiness and the emigration decision," IZA World of Labor, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), pages 96, October.
    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. Nikolova, Milena & Graham, Carol Lee, 2014. "In Transit: The Well-Being of Migrants from Transition and Post-Transition Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 8520, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    4. 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.
    5. 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.

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