Journal article
Happiness and International Migration
Journal of happiness studies, Vol.12(5), pp.819-840
10/01/2011
DOI: 10.1007/s10902-010-9229-3
Abstract
In this paper, we consider the extent to which the aggregate happiness of a country affects the flow of people across its borders. We merge data from the World Values Survey, which produces happiness indices for 84 countries between 1981 and 2004, with three different migration datasets: emigration rates from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, immigration rates from the U.S. Census, and net migration rates from the United Nations. We find that happiness has a U-shaped relationship with emigration rates: emigration rates fall in happiness for relatively unhappy countries, but rise for relatively happy countries. The U-shaped relationship also holds for migrant flows into the U.S. When analyzing net migration rates, we find that the reverse relationship exists. Net migration is associated with an increase in happiness for relatively unhappy countries, but after a threshold level of happiness, net migration is associated with a decrease in happiness. Our findings are robust to various empirical specifications and datasets.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Happiness and International Migration
- Creators
- Linnea A. Polgreen - University of IowaNicole B. Simpson - Colgate University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of happiness studies, Vol.12(5), pp.819-840
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- DOI
- 10.1007/s10902-010-9229-3
- ISSN
- 1389-4978
- eISSN
- 1573-7780
- Number of pages
- 22
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 10/01/2011
- Academic Unit
- Economics; Pharmacy Practice and Science
- Record Identifier
- 9984365897802771
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