The impact of economic hardships on the intent to migrate: Micro-level evidence from Venezuela

Abstract

We examine the impact of various hardships on individual's consideration of migration as a coping mechanism. Previous studies fail to identify the microeconomic drivers of migration during crises, lumping all the potential consequences of a crisis into singular categories. We argue that migration is one of several coping strategies available to individuals and present an empirical model that motivates this proposition. Our approach also suggests that unobserved factors, such as ability, determine both returns to migration as well as the availability of domestic (non-migration) coping strategies, which curbs migration. We use new survey data covering over 1000 individuals in three large Venezuelan cities. This nation is undergoing a crisis caused by unprecedented levels of hyperinflation, which resulted in the worse migration crisis in Latin American history. We focus on hardships that characterise the Venezuelan situation: food insecurity; scarcity of health products/services; crime; and diminished purchasing power. We marry this information to data on stated preferences over migration. We recognise that individuals may desire to migrate temporarily or permanently and model those choices separately and subsequently treat them as competing options. Our preferred results suggest that falling victim to crime and poor health services motivate migration. We conclude with policy suggestions.