IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i8p5448-d1119480.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Family and Community Obligations Motivate People to Immigrate—A Case Study from the Republic of the Marshall Islands

Author

Listed:
  • Ryo Fujikura

    (Faculty of Sustainability Studies, Hosei University, Chiyodaku, Tokyo 102-8160, Japan)

  • Mikiyasu Nakayama

    (Global Infrastructure Research Foundation, Minatoku, Tokyo 105-0001, Japan)

  • Daisuke Sasaki

    (International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan)

  • Irene Taafaki

    (College of the Marshall Islands, Delap-Uliga-Djarrit, Majuro Atoll 96960, Marshall Islands)

  • Jichao Chen

    (Graduate School of Public Policy and Social Governance, Hosei University, Chiyodaku, Tokyo 102-8160, Japan)

Abstract

A questionnaire survey was conducted in the Marshall Islands among 308 citizens of Majuro in order to analyze the factors that led them to immigrate. Using the results from the questionnaire items that indicate the motivations for emigration as independent variables, we extracted the factors with significantly high correlation coefficients; they suggest that the desire to escape from the many obligations within the family and regional community are predominant push factors for migrating overseas while the economic disparity between the United State and their home countries are predominant pull factors. Independently, the Permutation Feature Importance was used to extract the salient factors motivating migration, which provides similar results. Furthermore, the result of structural equation modeling verified the hypothesis that an escape from many obligations and economic disparity is a major motivation for migration at a significance level of 0.1%.

Suggested Citation

  • Ryo Fujikura & Mikiyasu Nakayama & Daisuke Sasaki & Irene Taafaki & Jichao Chen, 2023. "Family and Community Obligations Motivate People to Immigrate—A Case Study from the Republic of the Marshall Islands," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(8), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:8:p:5448-:d:1119480
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/8/5448/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/8/5448/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Neef, Andreas & Benge, Lucy & Boruff, Bryan & Pauli, Natasha & Weber, Eberhard & Varea, Renata, 2018. "Climate adaptation strategies in Fiji: The role of social norms and cultural values," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 125-137.
    2. Piotr Tarka, 2018. "An overview of structural equation modeling: its beginnings, historical development, usefulness and controversies in the social sciences," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 313-354, January.
    3. Everett Lee, 1966. "A theory of migration," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 3(1), pages 47-57, March.
    4. Andrew L. Dannenberg & Howard Frumkin & Jeremy J. Hess & Kristie L. Ebi, 2019. "Managed retreat as a strategy for climate change adaptation in small communities: public health implications," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 153(1), pages 1-14, March.
    5. Miyuki Hino & Christopher B. Field & Katharine J. Mach, 2017. "Managed retreat as a response to natural hazard risk," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 7(5), pages 364-370, May.
    6. Kieran Oberman, 2011. "Immigration, Global Poverty and the Right to Stay," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 59(2), pages 253-268, June.
    7. Chen, Yong & Rosenthal, Stuart S., 2008. "Local amenities and life-cycle migration: Do people move for jobs or fun?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 519-537, November.
    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. Nicholas Pinter & James C. Rees, 2021. "Assessing managed flood retreat and community relocation in the Midwest USA," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 107(1), pages 497-518, May.
    2. Tubridy, Fiadh & Lennon, Mick & Scott, Mark, 2022. "Managed retreat and coastal climate change adaptation: The environmental justice implications and value of a coproduction approach," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    3. Ye Seul Choi & Up Lim, 2015. "Effects of Regional Creative Milieu on Interregional Migration of the Highly Educated in Korea: Evidence from Hierarchical Cross-Classified Linear Modeling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-18, December.
    4. Thoa Hoang & Van Thinh Le & Ilan Noy, 2024. "Heterogenous Mental Health Impacts of a Forced Relocation: The Red Zone in Christchurch after Its 2011 Earthquake," CESifo Working Paper Series 11085, CESifo.
    5. Geronimo Gussmann & Jochen Hinkel, 2020. "What drives relocation policies in the Maldives?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 931-951, November.
    6. Hoang, Thoa & Noy, Ilan, 2023. "The income consequences of a managed retreat," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    7. Tongzheng Pu & Chongxing Huang & Jingjing Yang & Ming Huang, 2023. "Transcending Time and Space: Survey Methods, Uncertainty, and Development in Human Migration Prediction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-23, July.
    8. Christina Hanna & Iain White & Bruce Glavovic, 2020. "The Uncertainty Contagion: Revealing the Interrelated, Cascading Uncertainties of Managed Retreat," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.
    9. Liz Koslov & Alexis Merdjanoff & Elana Sulakshana & Eric Klinenberg, 2021. "When rebuilding no longer means recovery: the stress of staying put after Hurricane Sandy," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 1-21, April.
    10. Raven Molloy & Christopher L. Smith & Abigail Wozniak, 2017. "Job Changing and the Decline in Long-Distance Migration in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(2), pages 631-653, April.
    11. Nayef Alghais & David Pullar & Elin Charles-Edwards, 2018. "Accounting for peoples’ preferences in establishing new cities: A spatial model of population migration in Kuwait," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-31, December.
    12. Celia McMichael & Teresia Powell, 2021. "Planned Relocation and Health: A Case Study from Fiji," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-17, April.
    13. Hans Thor Andersen & Aske Egsgaard-Pedersen & Høgni Kalsø Hansen & Elise Stenholt Lange & Helle Nørgaard, 2022. "Counter-Urban Activity Out of Copenhagen: Who, Where and Why?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-22, May.
    14. Laila Touhami Morghem & Khawlah Ali Abdalla Spetan, 2020. "Determinants of International Migration: An Applied Study on Selected Arab Countries (1995-2017)," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 10(2), pages 6-19.
    15. Mohamed Amara & Hatem Jemmali, 2018. "Deciphering the Relationship Between Internal Migration and Regional Disparities in Tunisia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 135(1), pages 313-331, January.
    16. Ning Xu & Chang’an Li, 2023. "Migration and Rural Sustainability: Relative Poverty Alleviation by Geographical Mobility in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-27, April.
    17. Karina Acosta & Hengyu Gu, 2022. "Locked up? The development and internal migration nexus in Colombia," Documentos de Trabajo Sobre Economía Regional y Urbana 19931, Banco de la República, Economía Regional.
    18. Dreher, Axel & Fuchs, Andreas & Langlotz, Sarah, 2019. "The effects of foreign aid on refugee flows," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 127-147.
    19. Vakulenko, Elena, 2019. "Motives for internal migration in Russia: what has changed in recent years?," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 55, pages 113-138.
    20. Plantinga, Andrew J. & Détang-Dessendre, Cécile & Hunt, Gary L. & Piguet, Virginie, 2013. "Housing prices and inter-urban migration," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 296-306.

    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:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:8:p:5448-:d:1119480. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.