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Corruption as a Push and Pull Factor of Migration Flows: Evidence from European Countries

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Date
2023-09-14
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Published
2023-09-14
Author(s)
Bernini, Andrea
Garrote Sanchez, Daniel
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Abstract
Conclusive evidence on the relationship between corruption and migration has remained scant in the literature to date. Using data from 2008 to 2018 on bilateral migration flows across European Union and European Free Trade Association countries and four measures of corruption, this paper shows that corruption acts as both a push factor and a pull factor for migration patterns. Based on a gravity model, a one-unit increase in the corruption level in the origin country is associated with a 11 percent increase in out-migration. The same one-unit increase in the destination country is associated with a 10 percent decline in in-migration.
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Bernini, Andrea; Bossavie, Laurent; Garrote Sanchez, Daniel; Makovec, Mattia; Garrote Sánchez, Daniel. 2023. Corruption as a Push and Pull Factor of Migration Flows: Evidence from European Countries. Policy Research Working Papers; 10566. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/40355 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
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