Regime Type and Emigration

• In Event: Migration and Political Regimes

Abstract

Why do people emigrate from some countries at higher rates than from other countries, and how is this variation affected by politics in the country of origin? I show that even though people prefer having more political rights to having less, emigration rates are not higher in authoritarian states than in democracies. Moreover, emigration rates of the low educated are higher in democracies that in authoritarian states. I argue that the explanation for this pattern has to do with political economy incentives that authoritarian elites have to discourage emigration and the associated decreases in the supply of labor. Furthermore, I examine differences across different types of authoritarian states (civilian vs. military, single party vs. multiparty) in terms of emigration rates and in terms of reliance on remittances. The literature on international migration has tended not to focus on sending states, on authoritarian states, or on variation across different types of authoritarian states. I construct a new dataset combining data on regime type, emigration rates and remittances, and test my claims across a large number of observations.

Author

• Nikola Mirilovic, University of Central Florida