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Determinants of Emigration: Evidence from Egypt

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  • Anda David

    (PSL Université Paris Dauphine)

  • Joachim Jarreau

Abstract

This paper analyzes the determinants of emigration at the individual and household level, using three waves of the Egyptian labor market panel survey (ELMPS) covering the 1998-2012 period. Exploiting the panel structure of the data allows us to reduce the risk of reverse causality, and to estimate the effect of migrant networks more accurately than in existing studies based on cross-sectional data. We confirm, in the Egyptian context, that migrants abroad are positively selected on the wealth of the origin household, due to migration costs; and that the growth of a network of past emigrants from the same community mitigates this positive selection, increasing the propensity to migrate among poorer households. We also offer a novel insight on the linkages between emigration decision and home country’s labor market conditions. We show that unemployment and informal employment appear as the main incentives to emigrate. This suggests that the scarcity of “quality jobs”, in particular on the skilled labor market, is one important factor driving emigration flows in Egypt.

Suggested Citation

  • Anda David & Joachim Jarreau, 2016. "Determinants of Emigration: Evidence from Egypt," Working Papers 987, Economic Research Forum, revised Apr 2016.
    • Handle: RePEc:erg:wpaper:987
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Raul Ramos, 2019. "Migration aspirations among youth in the Middle East and North Africa region," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 487-507, December.
    2. Ramos, Raul, 2017. "Migration Aspirations among NEETs in Selected MENA Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 11146, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Fakih, Ali & El Baba, Malak, 2023. "The Decision to Emigrate in Six MENA Countries: The Role of Post-Revolutionary Stress," IZA Discussion Papers 15933, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Amr Abdelwahed & Anne Goujon & Leiwen Jiang, 2020. "The Migration Intentions of Young Egyptians," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-38, November.
    5. Anda David & Joachim Jarreau, 2015. "Short and Long-Term Impacts of Emigration on Origin Households: The Case of Egypt," Working Papers 977, Economic Research Forum, revised Dec 2015.
    6. Vladimir Hlasny & Shireen AlAzzawi, 2020. "Return Migration and Earnings Mobility in Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia," Working Papers 562, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.

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