Family Migration Decisions

TLDR

The study defines family ties economically and investigates how they influence migration decisions, employment, earnings, and family stability. The authors model family ties as economic variables to analyze their impact on migration probability, employment, earnings, and stability. Family ties act as negative externalities that typically deter migration, lower wives’ employment and earnings, raise husbands’ earnings, and affect marital stability; women’s increased labor attachment raises migration ties that deter migration and destabilize marriages, while marital instability encourages migration and boosts women’s labor participation.

Abstract

An economic definition of family ties relevant to migration decisions leads to the exploration of their effects on the probability of migration, on consequent changes in employment and earnings of family members, and on family stability. It is shown that ties represent negative "personal" externalities which are usually, but not always, internalized by the family. ties tend to deter migration, to reduce the employment and earnings of migrating wives, and to increase the employment and earnings of their husbands. The growth of labor market attachment of women creates an increase in migration ties, which both deters migration and contributes to marital instability. Conversely, growing marital instability stimulates migration and reinforces the upward trends in women's labor force participation.