Out of Africa: What Drives the Pressure to Emigrate?

Who intends to leave Africa and what drives people to emigrate? For the cases of Ghana, Senegal, Morocco and Egypt, we examined peoples' stated intentions to emigrate. The large majority wants to move "out of Africa," and the typical potential migrant was found to be young, male, disp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of population economics 2005-11, Vol.18 (4), p.741-778
Main Authors: van Dalen, Hendrik P., Groenewold, George, Schoorl, Jeannette J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa
African studies
Attitudes
Censuses
Countries
Decision making
Developing countries
Development studies
Economic expectations
Economic growth
Economic migration
Emigration
Human migration
International migration
Labour migration
LDCs
Males
Marital status
Men
Migration
Optimism
Population statistics
Self-perception
Single women
Social interaction
Social networks
Standard of living
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Summary:Who intends to leave Africa and what drives people to emigrate? For the cases of Ghana, Senegal, Morocco and Egypt, we examined peoples' stated intentions to emigrate. The large majority wants to move "out of Africa," and the typical potential migrant was found to be young, male, displaying relatively modern values and optimistic about the net benefits of emigration. Signs of positive self-selection were clearly evident in Ghana and Egypt, particularly among women. However, negative self-selection was apparent among Moroccan men. The network effects of potential migrants were found to be fairly important in Ghana and Egypt, but in Senegal and Morocco, such ties play no role in triggering emigration intentions.
ISSN:0933-1433
1432-1475
DOI:10.1007/s00148-005-0003-5