Less poverty, more emigration: understanding migrant flows from developing countries

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between economic development in less-developed migrant-sending countries and migrant flows from those countries to the developed countries. The study is motivated by the misconception that there is a linear relationship between the level of economic development and emigration from developing countries. The misconception often leads to the argument that helping to improve the general economic conditions in poor countries would reduce the rates of emigration from those countries to the developed world. Using the UK as a typical migrant-receiving developed country, the paper employs simple panel data methods to study the migrant inflows from 48 developing countries in Africa, Asia and South and Central America over a period of 33 years (1973–2005). The study finds that there is an inverse U-shaped relationship between economic development and emigration from developing countries to the UK, though this relationship is sensitive to aggregation of countries.

Keywords:

• immigration
• migrant flows
• development
• emigration

JEL Classification:

• F22
• J68

Notes

1. Source: Migration and Remittances Factbook, WorldBank, http://www.worldbank.org/prospects/migrationandremittances.

2. The destination country’s immigration policy may be regarded as a cost item as well.