Determinants of International Migration: Empirical Evidence for Migration to Spain

Maria del Mar Cebrian, Universidad de Salamanca

Relatively little is known about the factors behind the gross level of international migrant flows into Spain, despite the rapid growth in the number of migrants seen in recent years.This paper offers quantitative assessment of the economic and non-economic determinants that have driven and are driving world migration. The main questions we will try to answer are: Are valid standard theories of migration to explain the actual migration? Or, are these theories only valid to explain some kind of migration? What are the main factors explaining migration to developed countries? Do flows of international migrants respond to economic incentives? The estimation results confirm the importance of the economic differential between countries, policy variables and migrant stock for migration.I also find that standard theories are valid to explain migration from developing countries to develop countries but we have to find other theories in order to understand migration flows between developed countries.