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Braving the waves: The economics of clandestine migration from Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Linguère M'BAYE

    (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Développement International(CERDI))

  • Jean-Louis ARCAND

Abstract

Illegal immigration from the developing world to rich countries is one of the most controversial topics today. Using a unique data set on potential illegal migrants collected in Dakar, Senegal, we characterize the preferences and characteristics of illegal migrants, and the manner in which these factors interact so as to yield observed behavior. On the basis of our theoretical model, we evaluate a measure of the time and risk preferences through the individual discount rates and the individual coefficients of absolute risk aversion. Then, we test empirically our theoretical propositions and we show that these variables play a role, in the illegal migration decision, in the willingness to pay a smuggler and in the choice of the method of migration, at least as important as "classical" migration determinants such as the expected wage in the host country.

Suggested Citation

  • Linguère M'BAYE & Jean-Louis ARCAND, 2011. "Braving the waves: The economics of clandestine migration from Africa," Working Papers 201104, CERDI.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdi:wpaper:1243
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Illegal Migration; Preferences; Expectations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration

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