IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/dem/demres/v41y2019i28.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The limits to cumulative causation revisited: Urban-origin Mexico‒US migration in an era of increased immigration restrictions

Author

Listed:
  • Guillermo Paredes-Orozco

    (Ohio State University)

Abstract

Background: Cumulative causation ‒ the self-reproduction of migration through community social ties ‒ is a phenomenon central to the continuation of Mexico‒US migration, particularly for flows originating in rural areas. A debate has emerged over whether this self-reproducing process also occurs in large urban areas. Objective: I aim to determine whether cumulative causation explains US-bound migration from metropolitan areas in Mexico. Methods: Data comes from the Mexican Migration Project (MMP), which covers 154 origin communities in Mexico (30 of which are in metropolitan areas) and spans the period 1970‒2015. Event-history models are used to estimate the association between community ties and taking a first and last US trip in rural areas, small cities, and metropolitan areas. Results: The findings support the contention that the migration process from metropolitan areas in Mexico is self-reproducing. Differences in the strength of community ties for predicting international repeat migration between rural and metropolitan areas have declined in recent decades. Contribution: Previous studies that found no evidence in support of the self-reproduction of migration in metropolitan areas were limited by either the small number of communities assessed or inadequate measurement of community ties. Using a larger sample of communities and better measurement, this study shows that social ties in large cities can play a role similar to that played by rural ties in facilitating and perpetuating international migration. The results suggest that metropolitan migrants from more recently surveyed localities use community ties to reduce the costs and risks of migration.

Suggested Citation

  • Guillermo Paredes-Orozco, 2019. "The limits to cumulative causation revisited: Urban-origin Mexico‒US migration in an era of increased immigration restrictions," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(28), pages 815-846.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:41:y:2019:i:28
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2019.41.28
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol41/28/41-28.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4054/DemRes.2019.41.28?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ira Wasserman, 1982. "Size of place in relation to community attachment and satisfaction with community services," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 421-436, November.
    2. Fernando Riosmena & Douglas S. Massey, 2012. "Pathways to El Norte: Origins, Destinations, and Characteristics of Mexican Migrants to the United States," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 3-36, March.
    3. Manuela Angelucci, 2012. "US Border Enforcement and the Net Flow of Mexican Illegal Migration," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(2), pages 311-357.
    4. Claudia Masferrer & Bryan Roberts, 2012. "Going Back Home? Changing Demography and Geography of Mexican Return Migration," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 31(4), pages 465-496, August.
    5. Andrés Villarreal, 2014. "Explaining the Decline in Mexico-U.S. Migration: The Effect of the Great Recession," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(6), pages 2203-2228, December.
    6. Elizabeth Fussell & Douglas Massey, 2004. "The limits to cumulative causation: International migration from Mexican Urban Areas," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 41(1), pages 151-171, February.
    7. Richard Mines & Alain de Janvry, 1982. "Migration to the United States and Mexican Rural Development: A Case Study," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 64(3), pages 444-454.
    8. Stark, Oded & Taylor, J Edward, 1991. "Migration Incentives, Migration Types: The Role of Relative Deprivation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(408), pages 1163-1178, September.
    9. Michael A. Quinn, 2006. "Relative Deprivation, Wage Differentials and Mexican Migration," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 135-153, February.
    10. Mao-Mei Liu, 2013. "Migrant Networks and International Migration: Testing Weak Ties," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(4), pages 1243-1277, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Raphael Nawrotzki & Fernando Riosmena & Lori Hunter, 2013. "Do Rainfall Deficits Predict U.S.-Bound Migration from Rural Mexico? Evidence from the Mexican Census," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 32(1), pages 129-158, February.
    2. David, Blight, 2020. "Trends of International Migration since Post-World War II," MPRA Paper 106307, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2020.
    3. Binhan Elif, Yilmaz, 2016. "International Migration Trends and Policy Effects," MPRA Paper 106103, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2016.
    4. Bożena, Chrząstowska, 2018. "The Effectiveness of Migration Policies," MPRA Paper 106128, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2018.
    5. Les, Christidis, 2018. "Effectiveness and Trends of International Migration since Post-World War II," MPRA Paper 106282, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2018.
    6. Isabelle Chort & Maëlys Rupelle, 2016. "Determinants of Mexico-U.S. Outward and Return Migration Flows: A State-Level Panel Data Analysis," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(5), pages 1453-1476, October.
    7. Christina J. Diaz & Liwen Zeng & Ana P. Martinez-Donate, 2018. "Investigating Health Selection Within Mexico and Across the US Border," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(2), pages 181-204, April.
    8. Antonella, Barbarito, 2019. "Trends of International Migration since Post-World War II," MPRA Paper 106133, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2019.
    9. Fernando Riosmena, 2016. "The Potential and Limitations of Cross-Context Comparative Research on Migration," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 666(1), pages 28-45, July.
    10. Claudia Masferrer & Erin R. Hamilton & Nicole Denier, 2019. "Immigrants in Their Parental Homeland: Half a Million U.S.-born Minors Settle Throughout Mexico," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(4), pages 1453-1461, August.
    11. Mao-Mei Liu & Mathew J. Creighton & Fernando Riosmena & Pau Baizan, 2016. "Prospects for the comparative study of international migration using quasi-longitudinal micro-data," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 35(26), pages 745-782.
    12. Michael, Owiso, 2018. "International Migration since Post-World War II: Trends and Determinants," MPRA Paper 106280, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2018.
    13. Behnaz, Flippo, 2016. "Determinants and Trends of International Migration: Understanding and Evidences," MPRA Paper 106134, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2016.
    14. Zakiyyah, Varachia, 2020. "Understanding the Economic, Social, and Political Trends of International Migration," MPRA Paper 106460, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2020.
    15. Akasaka, Shintaro, 2020. "Effectiveness of International Migration since Early Stage," MPRA Paper 106358, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2020.
    16. Nicole Denier & Claudia Masferrer, 2020. "Returning to a New Mexican Labor Market? Regional Variation in the Economic Incorporation of Return Migrants from the U.S. to Mexico," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(4), pages 617-641, August.
    17. Hein de Haas & Mathias Czaika & Marie‐Laurence Flahaux & Edo Mahendra & Katharina Natter & Simona Vezzoli & María Villares‐Varela, 2019. "International Migration: Trends, Determinants, and Policy Effects," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 45(4), pages 885-922, December.
    18. Elena Vitalievna, Lebedeva, 2017. "Determinants, Trends and Policy Effects of International Migration," MPRA Paper 106117, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2017.
    19. Oded Stark & Franz Rendl & Marcin Jakubek, 2012. "The merger of populations, the incidence of marriages, and aggregate unhappiness," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 331-344, April.
    20. Winters, P. & Kafle, K. & Benfica, R., 2018. "IFAD RESEARCH SERIES 21 - Does relative deprivation induce migration? Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa," IFAD Research Series 280070, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    international migration; Mexico; rural areas; developing countries; metropolitan areas; small cities;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:41:y:2019:i:28. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Editorial Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.