The dynamics of migration in the presence of chains

✍ Scribed by Christian Helmenstein; Yury Yegorov

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 165 KB
• Volume: 24
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0165-1889
• DOI: 10.1016/s0165-1889(98)00069-4

✦ Synopsis

The experience of several host countries shows that small initial in#ows of migrants have a perpetuating e!ect on further migration from the same country of origin. This paper studies the interplay of factors that determine the transitional dynamics of migration #ows in the presence of social relationships between migrants. We fully specify and formally solve a stochastic two-country model of chain migration with one sending and one receiving country in which initial immigration patterns matter for future immigration patterns. Numerical calculations illustrate the crucial role of the wage elasticity of labor demand in counteracting the potential explosiveness of chain migration.