How Does Poverty Affect Migration Choice? A Review of Literature

The aim of this literature review is to examine the links between poverty and migration. Specifically, the paper investigates poverty and vulnerability as determinants of migration. Until recent years, this has been a relatively under-researched area, at least in comparison to the significant amount of (economic) literature examining the reverse causal relationship, the impact of migration on wellbeing. Poverty and vulnerability are likely to have two conflicting effects on migration: by providing incentives to migrate, either as a strategy for livelihood diversification or out of destitution; but also by reducing the ability to migrate because the transfer costs involved (in terms of financial, human, physical and social capital) are too high. There is evidence that migration does play a significant role in poor (as well as better off) people's livelihood strategies throughout the developing world, but may not be an option to the most destitute amongst the poor, i.e. the severely or chronically poor. This paper also provides some analysis of theoretical and empirical studies on the impact of migration on poverty and vulnerability.