Lifetime Migration in Colombia: Tests of the Expected Income Hypothesis

Abstract

[Excerpt] People migrate and areas gain or lose population for a variety of reasons: differences in potential earnings, in job availability, in schooling opportunities, in quality of life, proximity to friends and relatives, and so on. The economic model of migration holds that the central factor determining individual migration decisions is the perceived opportunity to attain higher economic status. Area populations are expected to change differentially according to the economic opportunities offered. In empirical research in developed countries, economic factors have been shown to underlie most migration decisions. In developing countries, where the economic situation of the populace is far more precarious, we would expect economic forces to be even more powerful determinants of the spatial allocation of the population. To test this expectation, this paper applies the economic model of migration to one developing country, Colombia.