ECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF MIGRATION IN MALAYSIA

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Retrospective data collected in the first and second Malaysia Family Life Survey provide a unique opportunity to study migration patterns in a poor, but rapidly developing, economy. Migration behavior of Malaysian men and women will be described, paying attention to life-cycle patterns of migration and the timing of other events such as education and marriage. We will estimate a series of static and dynamic models of migration in order to test economic hypotheses which seek to explain migration behavior. In addition to individual characteristics, we will determine whether characteristics of other (extended) household members affect migration probabilities. The role of community characteristics, including government programs, will also be studied. In the context of dynamic models, we will permit learning and study how migrants respond to new information. We will also study resource transfers between migrants and their origin households. The Malaysian Family Life Survey data are very rich and also very complex. We will match information on the panel households who were enumerated in both the first and second waves. In the second wave, information was also collected on up to three children in the original households. By matching these PANEL households, together with the households of their CHILDREN, we will develop a unique database with retrospective information on both migrants and their origin households. This database, together with the NEW sample drawn in the second wave, will enable us to better understand the mechanics of migration in a dynamic economy.