IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i4p1386-d1334683.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Why Do Hungarian Health Workers Migrate? A Micro-Level Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Viktor Pál

    (Department of Economic and Social Geography, University of Szeged, 6722 Szeged, Hungary)

  • Szabolcs Fabula

    (Department of Economic and Social Geography, University of Szeged, 6722 Szeged, Hungary)

  • Lajos Boros

    (Department of Economic and Social Geography, University of Szeged, 6722 Szeged, Hungary)

Abstract

The sustainability of healthcare systems is challenged by the international migration of health workers in many countries. Like other Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, a great number of health professionals from Hungary have emigrated recently, increasing the shortage of health workers in the country. The aim of this study is to explore the migration attitudes of Hungarian health workers, applying a micro-level approach of push–pull factors. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews have been conducted with practicing and inactive Hungarian health professionals living in Hungary and abroad. The interviews were subjected to a thematic analysis, and the following groups of factors were revealed and discussed: wealth and income, workplace, human capital, quality of life, family, personal network, and personality. In addition, geography and life stage (life course) as two overarching, integrative categories are also discussed. The results point to the role of income, work environment, and family in migration decisions. As a new factor, the importance of geographical characteristics (local context, distance) is also explored, which has received less attention in previous studies. A novelty of our study is the CEE post-socialist point of view, mirrored by the life-path elements of the interviews. Another novelty is the qualitative and micro-level approach, forming the basis of policy recommendations presented at the end of our study.

Suggested Citation

  • Viktor Pál & Szabolcs Fabula & Lajos Boros, 2024. "Why Do Hungarian Health Workers Migrate? A Micro-Level Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-27, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:4:p:1386-:d:1334683
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/4/1386/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/4/1386/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cécile Détang‐Dessendre & Florence Goffette‐Nagot & Virginie Piguet, 2008. "Life Cycle And Migration To Urban And Rural Areas: Estimation Of A Mixed Logit Model On French Data," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 789-824, October.
    2. Alicja Domagała & Marcin Kautsch & Aleksandra Kulbat & Kamila Parzonka, 2022. "Exploration of Estimated Emigration Trends of Polish Health Professionals," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-18, January.
    3. Hagen-Zanker, Jessica, 2008. "Why do people migrate? A review of the theoretical literature," MPRA Paper 28197, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Williams, Allan M. & Baláz, Vladimir, 2008. "International return mobility, learning and knowledge transfer: A case study of Slovak doctors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(11), pages 1924-1933, December.
    5. Mihajlo Jakovljevic & Arcadio A. Cerda & Yansui Liu & Leidy García & Yuriy Timofeyev & Kristijan Krstic & John Fontanesi, 2021. "Sustainability Challenge of Eastern Europe—Historical Legacy, Belt and Road Initiative, Population Aging and Migration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-18, October.
    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. 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.
    2. Claire Dujardin & Florence Goffette-Nagot, 2009. "Does public housing occupancy increase unemployment?," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(6), pages 823-851, November.
    3. Amare, Mulubrhan & Hohfeld, Lena & Waibel, Hermann, 2011. "Finding Quality Employment through Rural Urban Migration: a case study from Thailand," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Berlin 2011 4, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    4. Peter Berck & Sofia Tano & Olle Westerlund, 2016. "Regional Sorting of Human Capital: The Choice of Location among Young Adults in Sweden," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(5), pages 757-770, May.
    5. Grażyna Kowalewska & Lesław Markowski, 2024. "Determinants of the Tendency for Migration of Nursing Students Living in Rural Areas of Eastern Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-21, June.
    6. Timo Mitze & Torben Schmidt, 2015. "Internal migration, regional labor markets and the role of agglomeration economies," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 55(1), pages 61-101, October.
    7. Kwaku Addai & Berna Serener & Dervis Kirikkaleli, 2022. "Asymmetricity in the Effect of Economic and Environmental Factors on Social Sustainability: Empirical Evidence from Eastern European Economies using Dynamic Analysis with CCEMG & D-H Causality Approac," International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, vol. 12(3), pages 75-93.
    8. Coșciug, Anatolie, 2013. "The Impact of International Student Mobility in Romania," MPRA Paper 99296, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Eric Rougier & Nicolas Yol, 2018. "The volatility effect of diaspora’s location: A migration portfolio approach," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2018-09, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    10. Syed Naimul, Wadood & Nayeema Nusrat, Choudhury & Abul Kalam, Azad, 2023. "Does migration theory explain international migration from Bangladesh? a primer review," MPRA Paper 116611, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Umar Mukhtar & Zhangbao Zhong & Beihai Tian & Amar Razzaq & Muhammad Asad ur Rehman Naseer & Tayyaba Hina, 2018. "Does Rural–Urban Migration Improve Employment Quality and Household Welfare? Evidence from Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-14, November.
    12. Éric Rougier & Nicolas Yol, 2019. "The volatility effect of diaspora's location," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(6), pages 1796-1827, June.
    13. Ellen M Hoffmann & Verena Konerding & Sunil Nautiyal & Andreas Buerkert, 2019. "Is the push-pull paradigm useful to explain rural-urban migration? A case study in Uttarakhand, India," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-22, April.
    14. Spilg, Edward & Siebert, Sabina & Martin, Graeme, 2012. "A social learning perspective on the development of doctors in the UK National Health Service," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(9), pages 1617-1624.
    15. Andrés Mauricio Gómez & Zoraida Ramirez Gutierrez, 2014. "Dinámica económica de las remesas enviadas desde Espana y Estados Unidos a Colombia entre 2005-2013: un análisis de cointegración," Apuntes del Cenes, Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia, December.
    16. Kwaku Addai & Berna Serener & Dervis Kirikkaleli, 2022. "Asymmetricity in the Effect of Economic and Environmental Factors on Social Sustainability: Empirical Evidence from Eastern European Economies using Dynamic Analysis with CCEMG & D-H Causality Approac," International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, vol. 12(3), pages 75-92.
    17. Pierre Pistre, 2016. "Recensements de la population pour l’étude des reprises démographiques et des migrations résidentielles dans l’espace peu dense (1975‑2011)," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 483(1), pages 151-178.
    18. Lillian Mwanri & Leticia Anderson & Kathomi Gatwiri, 2021. "Telling Our Stories: Resilience during Resettlement for African Skilled Migrants in Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-15, April.
    19. Raaj Kishore Biswas & Enamul Kabir & Hafiz T. A. Khan, 2019. "Causes of Urban Migration in Bangladesh: Evidence from the Urban Health Survey," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 38(4), pages 593-614, August.
    20. Connell, John, 2014. "The two cultures of health worker migration: A Pacific perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 73-81.

    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:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:4:p:1386-:d:1334683. 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.