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Migration and aspirations – are migrants trapped on a hedonic treadmill?

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  • Mathias Czaika
  • Marc Vothknecht

Abstract

Based on longitudinal information from two waves of the Indonesian Family and LifeSurvey (IFLS) in 2000 and 2007, we find evidence that migrants are self-selectedalong higher individual aspirations acquired (or, inherited) beforemigration. About 70 per cent of aspiration differentials can be explained by factorssuch as young age, good education, or superior socio-economic background, while theresidual seems to be linked to an individual pre-disposition for higher aspirations.However, despite the fact that migration is economically beneficial for mostmigrants, the migration experience itself seems to further increase economicaspirations, hereby trapping migrants on a ‘hedonic treadmill’. JEL classification: D03; J61; R23 Copyright Vothknecht and Czaika; licensee Springer. 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Mathias Czaika & Marc Vothknecht, 2014. "Migration and aspirations – are migrants trapped on a hedonic treadmill?," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-21, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:izamig:v:3:y:2014:i:1:p:1-21:10.1186/2193-9039-3-1
    DOI: 10.1186/2193-9039-3-1
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    2. Patricio S. Dalton & Sayantan Ghosal & Anandi Mani, 2016. "Poverty and Aspirations Failure," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(590), pages 165-188, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Christina Diane Bastianon, 2019. "Youth Migration Aspirations in Georgia and Moldova," Migration Letters, Migration Letters, vol. 16(1), pages 105-121, January.
    2. Herbst Mikołaj & Kaczmarczyk Paweł & Wójcik Piotr, 2017. "Migration of Graduates Within a Sequential Decision Framework: Evidence from Poland," Central European Economic Journal, Sciendo, vol. 1(48), pages 1-18, November.
    3. Sung Soo Lim, 2018. "Aspirations of Migrants and Returns to Human Capital Investment," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 138(1), pages 317-334, July.
    4. Bangkim Biswas & Bishawjit Mallick, 2021. "Livelihood diversification as key to long-term non-migration: evidence from coastal Bangladesh," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 8924-8948, June.
    5. Md. Selim Reja, 2022. "Out-Migration of Muslim Youth from Rural West Bengal to Other States in India: Reasons and Role of Social Networks," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 65(4), pages 1137-1154, December.
    6. Dominique Jolivet & Sonja Fransen & William Neil Adger & Anita Fábos & Mumuni Abu & Charlotte Allen & Emily Boyd & Edward R. Carr & Samuel Nii Ardey Codjoe & Maria Franco Gavonel & François Gemenne & , 2023. "COVID-19 responses restricted abilities and aspirations for mobility and migration: insights from diverse cities in four continents," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.
    7. Mesplé-Somps, Sandrine & Nilsson, Björn, 2023. "Role models, aspirations and desire to migrate," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 819-839.
    8. Böhme, Marcus H. & Glaser, Toni, 2014. "Migration experience, aspirations and the brain drain theory and empirical evidence," Kiel Working Papers 1956, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    9. Elizabeth Koomson-Yalley, 2021. "Information Sharing and Decision-Making: Attempts by Ghanaian Return Migrants to Enter through Libya," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 226-234.
    10. Nikolova, Milena & Graham, Carol, 2015. "In transit: The well-being of migrants from transition and post-transition countries," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 164-186.
    11. Luciana Méndez, 2020. "So Dissatisfied to Leave? The Role of Perceptions, Expectations and Beliefs on Youths’ Intention to Migrate: Evidence from a Developing Country," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(8), pages 2981-3006, December.
    12. Reinhard A. Weisser, 2019. "The price of mobility," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 39(1), pages 25-64, February.
    13. Luciana Méndez, 2017. "So dissatisfied to leave? The role of perceptions, expectations and beliefs on youths' intention to migrate," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 17-12, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    14. M. Hendriks & M. J. Burger, 2020. "Unsuccessful Subjective Well-Being Assimilation Among Immigrants: The Role of Faltering Perceptions of the Host Society," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(6), pages 1985-2006, August.
    15. Sung Soo Lim & Jongwook Lee, 2022. "Aspirations, Human Capital Investment, and the Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty in Indonesia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 162(1), pages 377-412, July.
    16. Bishawjit Mallick & Jochen Schanze, 2020. "Trapped or Voluntary? Non-Migration Despite Climate Risks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-6, June.
    17. Marcus Böhme, 2015. "Migration and educational aspirations – Another channel of brain gain?," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-24, December.
    18. Amr Abdelwahed & Anne Goujon & Leiwen Jiang, 2020. "The Migration Intentions of Young Egyptians," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-38, November.
    19. Muir, Jonathan A. & Cope, Michael R. & Jackson, Jorden E. & Angeningsih, Leslie R., 2019. "To Move Home or Move On? Investigating the Impact of Recovery Aid on Migration Status as a Potential Tool for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Aftermath of Volcanic Eruptions in Merapi, Indonesia," SocArXiv qcm58, Center for Open Science.
    20. Burcu Akan Ellis, 2017. "Stuck in a Vicious Cycle? Career Aspirations and Entrapment Among Turkish Au Pairs in the United States," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 847-862, August.
    21. Francisco Perales, 2017. "Dynamics of job satisfaction around internal migrations: a panel analysis of young people in Britain and Australia," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(3), pages 577-601, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Internal migration; Migration behaviour; Aspirations; Indonesia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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