Human Development and International Migration: Lessons from Low- and Middle- Income Countries

This paper analyses the relationship between human development and migration. In particular, it tests whether migration as a function of human development follows an inverted U-shaped curve, known as mobility transition. Understanding this relationship is important, since many Western politicians have implemented socioeconomic development strategies in migrant source countries with the aim to reduce migration. Considering that previous studies have mainly concentrated on the economic factors of development, this study introduces the broader human development index, determined by income, health and education, as main explanatory variable. Analysing the rate of migration from 111 low- and middle income countries into the aggregate of 15 OECD countries between 2000 and 2010, the study finds strong support for the inverted U-shaped relationship between human development and migration. This indicates that development strategies aimed to reduce migration are misguided.