Xenophobic Attacks, Migration Intentions and Networks: Evidence from the South of Africa

Guido Friebel (), Juan Gallego () and Mariapia Mendola

No 213, Working Papers from University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics

Abstract: We investigate how emigration flows from a developing region are affected by xenophobic violence at destination. Our empirical analysis is based on a unique survey among more than 1000 households collected in Mozambique in summe 2008, a few months after a series of xenophobic attacks in South Africa killed dozens and displaced thousands of immigrants from neighbouring countries. We estimate migration intentions of Mozambicans before and after the attacks, controlling for the characteristics of households and previous migration behaviour. Using a placebo period, we show that other things equal, the migration intention of household heads decreases from 37 to 33 percent. The sensitivity of migration intentions to violence is larger for household heads with many children younger than 15 years, decreasing the migration intention by 11 percentage points. Most importantly, the sensitivity of migration intentions is highest for those household heads with many young children whose families have no access to social networks. For these household heads, the intention falls by 15 percentage points. Social networks provide insurance against the consequences young children suffer in case the household head would be harmed by xenophobic violence and consequently could not provide for the family.

Keywords: violence; risk; migration; household behaviour; Mozambique (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D1 J6 O1 R2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 41 pages
Date: 2011-11, Revised 2011-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-dev and nep-mig
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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http://repec.dems.unimib.it/repec/pdf/mibwpaper213.pdf First version, 2011 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Xenophobic attacks, migration intentions, and networks: evidence from the South of Africa (2013)
Working Paper: Xenophobic Attacks, Migration Intentions and Networks: Evidence from the South of Africa (2011)
Working Paper: Xenophobic Attacks, Migration Intentions and Networks: Evidence from the South of Africa (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mib:wpaper:213

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