Why Does Immigration

Occur?
A Theoretical Synthesis
Douglas S. Massey

Periods

Mercantile period (1500-1800)

Industrial Period (early 19 century)
Period of Limited Migration
Post Industrial Migration
th

1. Theories of International
Migration
Neoclassical Economics
Geographic differences in the supply of and demand for
labor (Todaro and Maruszko, 1987)

The New Economics of Migration

Income is not a homogeneous good. Relative income of
households matters.

SEGMENTED LABOUR MARKET

THEORY
Propositions:

International migration is caused by the permanent demand

for labor by developed nations which is intrinsic to their

economic structure.
The labour market of developed societies is segmented or
divided in 2 sectors: primary sector (capital-intensive) and
secondary sector (labour-intensive).
People at developed societies faced motivational problems to
enter the bottom of job hierarchy because it is low-paid, less
prestigious and offers few channels for upward mobility. Such
job vacancy creates demand for foreign workers who are
willing to take the jobs under unpleasant conditions.

WORLD SYSTEMS THEORY

Propositions:

International migration is a structural consequence of the expansion

of markets within a global political hierarchy. The penetration of
capitalist economic relations into non capitalist or pre capitalist
societies creates a mobile population that is prone to migration.
International migration emerges in response to the disruptions and
dislocations that inevitably occur in the process of capitalist
development
Capitalist investment fosters changes that create an uprooted,
mobile population in peripheral countries while at the same time
forging strong material and cultural links with core countries,
leading to international migration.
International migration is especially likely between past colonial
powers and the former colonies, because cultural, linguistic,
investment, transportation, and communication links were
established early.

Social Capital Theory

It

can be gained through membership in networks and social

institutions
Migrant networks sets of interpersonal ties that connects
migrants, former migrants and non-migrants through ties of
kinship, friendship and shared community so that it facilitates
international movement
Migration network reduce cost and risk of movt and increase
the expected return
Networks make IM attractive as a strategy for risk diversification
or utility max.
It argues that acts of migration at one point in time
systematically alter the context within which future migration
decisions are made

Cumulative Causation
It states that over time IM tends to sustain itself in ways that

make additional movement progressively

Each act of migration changes the social context within which
subsequent migration decisions are made
Migration is affected in this cumulative fashion through
different ways:
Expansion of networks
The distribution of income
The organization of agriculture
Culture
Regional distribution of human capital
The social meaning of work

A Synthetic Theoretical Account

Because the above theories posit casual mechanisms

operating at multiple levels of aggregation, the various

explanations are not necessarily contradictory.

Migration Theory Reconsidered

In the theoretical account, one major factor

has been sorely neglected: THE STATE.