Life (Dis)Satisfaction and Decision to Migrate: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe

Osteuropa-Institut Regensburg Working Paper No. 306

34 Pages Posted: 10 Jan 2012

See all articles by Olga Popova

Olga Popova

Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Vladimir Otrachshenko

Nova School of Business & Economics

Date Written: December 1, 2011

Abstract

This paper provides the first evidence regarding the impact of life satisfaction on the individual intention to migrate. The impact of individual characteristics and country macroeconomic variables on the decision to migrate is analyzed in one framework. Differently from other studies, we allow for life satisfaction to serve as a mediator between macroeconomic variables and the intention to migrate. Using the Eurobarometer survey for 27 Central Eastern (CEE) and Western European (non-CEE) countries, we test the predictions of our theoretical model and find that people dissatisfied with life have higher intention to migrate. We have not enough evidence that the macroeconomic conditions affect the intention to migrate directly, but these factors do affect migration decision indirectly through life satisfaction. We also find that at all levels of life satisfaction, the unemployed, middle-age individuals with low or average income from urban areas at all levels of education have higher intentions to migrate from CEE countries than from non-CEE countries.

Keywords: life satisfaction, migration, decision making

JEL Classification: I31, J61

Suggested Citation

Popova, Olga and Otrachshenko, Vladimir, Life (Dis)Satisfaction and Decision to Migrate: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe (December 1, 2011). Osteuropa-Institut Regensburg Working Paper No. 306, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1982502 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1982502

Olga Popova (Contact Author)

Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS) ( email )

Landshuter Str. 4
Regensburg, 93047
Germany

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Vladimir Otrachshenko

Nova School of Business & Economics ( email )

Campus de Carcavelos
Rua da Holanda, 1
Carcavelos, 2775-405
Portugal

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
105
Abstract Views
1,035
Rank
462,937
PlumX Metrics