Migration and its effects on economic and demographic development in Romania

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to bring into attention migration theme, which although has echoes in the economic, demographic and social environments, it still needs effective policies. While official data are missing, providing research data about intentions and determinants of potential Romanian emigrants may lead to anticipated policies reactions and better oriented ones. The body of the paper particularizes the findings of an exploratory research on intention to emigrate from Romania of highly educated people, and analyzes some of the significant association relations between intention of emigration and its determinants. Methodological speaking, the research was organized as a survey based on a questionnaire, with respondents aged 20-40. The objective was to explore migration in order to find out more about the realities of migration phenomenon, about its causes and implications, and to detect significant association relations between intention of emigration and other variables. As results, five association relations were identified as being significant using nonparametric chi-tests. As conclusions, the duality of past and future economic and sociodemographic effects of migration for Romania but also for receiving countries is discussed while connecting to the fact that people perceptions and criticism regarding labor market might shape their future attitude regarding the decision of emigration.