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1. Discovering Diverse Mechanisms of Migration: The Mexico-U.S. Stream from 1970 to 2000

Author:
Filiz Garip
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
Migrants to the United States are a diverse population. This diversity, captured in various migration theories, is overlooked in empirical applications that describe a typical narrative for an average migrant. Using the Mexican Migration Project data from about 17,000 first-time migrants between 1970 and 2000, this study employs cluster analysis to identify four types of migrants with distinct configurations of characteristics. Each migrant type corresponds to a specific theoretical account, and becomes prevalent in a specific period, depending on the economic, social and political conditions. Strikingly, each migrant type also becomes prevalent around the period in which its corresponding theory is developed.
Topic:
Migration, Labor Issues, and Sociology
Political Geography:
United States and Mexico

2. Increasing Migration, Diverging Communities: Changing Character of Migrant Streams in Rural Thailand

Author:
Filiz Garip
Publication Date:
02-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
This paper studies how increasing migration changes the character of migrant streams in sending communities. Cumulative causation theory posits that past mi- gration patterns determine future flows, as prior migrants provide resources, influence, or normative pressures that make individuals more likely to migrate. The theory implies uniform patterns of exponentially increasing migration flows that are decreasingly selective. Recent research identifies heterogeneity in the cumulative patterns and selectivity of migration in communities. We propose that this heterogeneity may be ex- plained by the differential accessibility of previously accumulated migration experience. Multi-level, longitudinal migration data from 22 rural Thai communities allow us to measure the distribution of past experience as a proxy for its accessibility to community members. We find that migration becomes a less-selective process as migration expe- rience accumulates, and migrants become increasingly diverse in socio-demographic characteristics. Yet, selectivity within migrant streams persists if migration experience is not uniformly distributed among, and hence not equally accessible to, all community members. The results confirm that the accumulation and distribution of prior mi- grants' experiences distinctly shape future migration flows, and may lead to diverging cumulative patterns in communities over time.
Topic:
Migration, Political Economy, and Sociology
Political Geography:
Thailand and Southeast Asia

3. Model Comparison and Simulation for Hierarchical Models: Analyzing Rural-Urban Migration in Thailand

Author:
Filiz Garip and Bruce Western
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
Sociological research often examines the effects of social context with hierarchical models. In these applications, individuals are nested in social contexts-like school classes, neighborhoods or villages-whose effects are thought to shape individual outcomes. Although applications of hierarchical models are common in sociology, analysis usually focuses on inference for fixed parameters. Researchers seldom study model fit or examine aggregate patterns of variation implied by model parameters. We present an analysis of Thai migration data, in which survey respondents are nested within villages and report annual migration information. We study a variety of hierarchical models, investigating model fit with DIC and posterior predictive statistics. We also describe a simulation to study how different initial distributions of migration across villages produce increasing inter-village inequality in migration.
Topic:
Migration, Social Stratification, and Sociology
Political Geography:
Asia, Thailand, and Southeast Asia