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Social capital and willingness to migrate in post-communist countries

Author

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  • Peter Huber

    (Austrian Institute of Economic Research)

  • Stepan Mikula

    (Masaryk University)

Abstract

We analyse the correlation of various measures of social capital with the willingness to migrate in 28 post-communist and five western European comparison countries using the Life in Transition Survey. Memberships in clubs and civil society organisations are substantially lower in post-communist countries that in the Western European countries this is mainly due to the cohorts socialised prior to political reforms in the 1990’s. Differences in endowments with this measure of social capital explain around 2.5 percentage points of the 9–11 percentage point difference in the willingness to migrate between the post-communist and comparison countries. Differences in contacts to friends and family, by contrast, contribute only little to explaining these differences. Furthermore, despite clear cohort effects in endowments with social capital between cohorts socialized during and after communist rule, there is no clear evidence of such cohort effects in the impact of social capital on the willingness to migrate.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Huber & Stepan Mikula, 2019. "Social capital and willingness to migrate in post-communist countries," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 31-59, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:empiri:v:46:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s10663-018-9417-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10663-018-9417-7
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