2000 EDITION Push and pull factors of international migration A comparative report THEME 1 EUROPEAN General COMMISSION 1statistics A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int). Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2000 ISBN 92-828-9721-4 © European Communities, 2000 Printed in Luxembourg PRINTED ON WHITE CHLORINE-FREE PAPER FOREWORD International migration flows have increased in magnitude and complexity over the past decades. As a result, migration and potential migration to, for instance, the European Union are receiving ever more attention at policy level. Within this context, the Commission of the European Communities entrusted Eurostat, its Statistical Bureau, and the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) with a project to study the push and pull factors determining international migration flows. The objective of the study is to improve our understanding of the direct and indirect causes and mechanisms of international migration to the European Union, from an internationally comparative perspective. The results are intended to serve as a basis for the development of policy instruments and to provide tools for estimating future migration. The project started in 1994 with the preparation of a study on the ‘state of the art’ in migration theory and research, the identification of national and international research institutes active in this field, and a workshop. Based on the results of this preparatory stage, surveys were set up in a number of countries. The results are being reported on in the present comparative report, as well as in a series of eight individual country monographs. The focus of the project is on migration from the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region and from Sub-Saharan Africa to the European Union. Within these regions, seven countries have been selected for primary data collection on migration. The five predominantly migrant- sending countries participating in the project are - in the Mediterranean region - Turkey, Morocco and Egypt; and - in West Africa - Senegal and Ghana. Three migrant-receiving countries are included: Italy and Spain on the northern Mediterranean border, and the Netherlands, in western Europe. Analysis for the latter country is based on secondary data. In each of the countries involved in the project, local research teams were responsible for data collection and, to a large extent, for data processing and analysis. These country teams consist of researchers of local research institutes, and were invited to participate because of their extensive knowledge of international migration research, experience with survey data collection, and the institutional capacity to carry out surveys. In close consultation with the respective country teams and external experts, NIDI developed the research instruments for the project and provided methodological and technical feedback. Yves Franchet Prof. Dr. Jenny Gierveld Director-General Director EUROSTAT NIDI iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many persons have contributed to the current volume and we gratefully acknowledge their support. In the first place, of course, we thank the members of the country teams participating in the project, who were of vital importance in all its stages. Their names are included in the list of teams in Appendix 10.5. One of the joys of working in a project like this is that it brings together researchers from many different backgrounds, both scientifically and culturally, providing a fertile soil for ideas and solutions to challenging issues. Apart from the members of the teams, many others have made important contributions. Richard Bilsborrow (University of North Carolina, USA) was of invaluable help in solving complicated sampling issues. Furthermore, a group of experts from different backgrounds commented upon the draft questionnaires. Their constructive criticism and innovative ideas have contributed much to the questionnaires’ improvement. They were, in alphabetical order: Joaquín Arango (Complutense University and University Institute Ortega y Gasset, Spain), Richard Bilsborrow (University of North Carolina, USA), Francis Dodoo (African Population and Health Research Centre, Kenya), Sally Findley (Columbia University, USA), Mustafa Kharoufi (National Council for Youth and the Future, Morocco), Brendan Mullan (Michigan State University, USA) and Klaus Zimmermann (University of Munich, Germany). We also extend our gratitude to the European Commission which, with foresight, commissioned such a large study extending over a number of years. Much of our thanks, of course, goes to our colleagues at Eurostat, in particular to Bernard Langevin, who instigated the project and whose enthusiasm and support were always stimulating; to Luca Ascoli and Thana Chrissanthaki for the many times they helped us with useful advice and for sharing their well-informed knowledge with us; to Gilles Rambaud-Chanoz, as successor of Bernard Langevin, and to Gilles Decand, for their continued and valuable support; and to Antonella Gerard for her cheerful and efficient assistance in administrative matters. Furthermore, w e wish to thank Sandrine Beaujean (CESD-Communautaire), for sharing in the organisation of the final Conference that took place in October 1999. The many valuable and insightful comments made by the discussants during that Conference, where the research teams presented their first results, have helped us to review the present report, and provided interesting ideas for future research: Richard Bilsborrow and Francis Dodoo, both of whom were mentioned before, as well as Thomas Faist (University of Bremen, Germany), Ahmet Gökdere (University of Ankara, Turkey), Bachir Hamdouch (National Institute for Statistics and Applied Economics, Morocco), Graeme Hugo (University of Adelaide, Australia), Dieudonné Ouedraogo (International Development Research Center, Senegal), and Carlota Solé (Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain), At NIDI too, we are grateful to our Director, Jenny Gierveld, and the Deputy-Director, Nico van Nimwegen, for their support in completing this large project, and especially to Kène Henkens for his very effective guidance during the last year of the project. Furthermore, we are indebted to all NIDI-colleagues who have contributed at one stage or another: Frank Eelens for his work on the lay-out and contents of the questionnaire, Hans van Leusden for advice on data processing, Marlies Idema and Philippe Oberknezev for research assistance, Vera Holman and Elly Huzen as the projects’ tireless secretaries, and Jacqueline van der Helm and Tonny Nieuwstraten for their precise and efficient editorial work. As this has been a bilingual project, we owe thanks to those who corrected and/or translated our English and French: Willemien Kneppelhout and Catherine van der Wijst-Pineau, and the translators team at Eurostat. v Last but not least, we want to put into the limelight the contribution of all those who are too many to mention by name: the interviewer teams who carried out the field work, with such commitment; and the many thousands of men and women who were willing to answer our numerous questions on their lives, hopes, and experiences. Jeannette Schoorl Liesbeth Heering Ingrid Esveldt George Groenewold Rob van der Erf Alinda Bosch Helga de Valk Bart de Bruijn vi Push and pull factors of international migration: a comparative report TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD............................................................................................................................III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................V TABLE OF CONTENTS.........................................................................................................VII LIST OF TABLES.....................................................................................................................IX LIST OF FIGURES..................................................................................................................XI SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS......................................................................................XIII 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................1 1.1 Introduction...............................................................................................................1 1.2 Contents of report....................................................................................................2 2. THEORETICAL APPROACHES IN MIGRATION RESEARCH................................3 2.1 Existing theoretical approaches...............................................................................3 2.2 Implications for data collection .................................................................................7 2.3 Surveys of international migration..........................................................................10 3. STUDY DESIGN .......................................................................................................... 13 3.1 Research design....................................................................................................13 3.1.1 Key concepts.................................................................................................15 3.2 Questionnaire design .............................................................................................17