Inequality and Migration: A Behavioral Link

Oded Stark

No 178, Economics Series from Institute for Advanced Studies

Abstract: We provide an analytical-behavioral explanation for the observed positive relationship between income inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, and the incentive to migrate. We show that a higher total relative deprivation of a population leads to a stronger incentive to engage in migration for a given level of a population’s income; that total relative deprivation is positively related to the Gini coefficient; and that, consequently, the Gini coefficient and migration are positively correlated, holding the population’s income constant.

Keywords: Income inequality; Relative deprivation; The Gini coefficient; The incentive to migrate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 D31 D63 F22 J61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 11 pages
Date: 2005-10
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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https://irihs.ihs.ac.at/id/eprint/1664 First version, 2005 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Inequality and migration: A behavioral link (2006)
Working Paper: Inequality and migration: A behavioral link (2005)
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