Migration Networks and the Geography of Irregular Migration: Evidence from Senegalese Censuses

Adrien Vandenbunder

No 313, Working Papers from French Institute for Demographic Studies

Abstract: What explains why, from the same country of origin, some migrants depart with legal documents while others risk their lives on clandestine routes? I address this question using Senegal’s 2023 population census, which for the first time in any national census records the legal status at departure of recent international emigrants. Combining this with the two previous Senegalese censuses of 2002 and 2013, I document a sharp spatial segmentation between regular and irregular migration to Europe and trace its origins to historically rooted, destination-specific migration corridors. I argue that migrant networks are not homogeneous: ties to documented migrants transmit a different form of migration capital than ties to undocumented migrants. To test this hypothesis, I estimate linear probability models comparing irregular with regular migrants to Europe, controlling for a broad set of socio-economic characteristics along with department, destination and year fixed-effects. The results confirm that both community and family migration networks, distinguished by migration mode, are among the strongest predictors of how individuals migrate.

Keywords: Irregular migration; legal status; migration networks; Senegal; population census; MIGRATION INTERNATIONALE / INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION; IMMIGRE EN SITUATION IRREGULIERE / IRREGULAR MIGRANTS; STATUT JURIDIQUE / LEGAL STATUS; RECENSEMENT DE POPULATION / POPULATION CENSUSES; SENEGAL / SENEGAL (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:idg:wpaper:8rq5iaebvlst1fmlv8hr

DOI: 10.48756/ined-dt-313.1026

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