Understanding Mexican Migration to the United States

Abstract

This article draws on prior theory and research in the fields of sociology, economics, and anthropology to specify six basic propositions about international migration. These are examined using data specially collected from migrants in four Mexican communities. The migration process is divided into four phases corresponding to different events in the migrant career-departure, repetition, settlement, and return-and logit probability models are estimated to study the determinants of each event. Empirical estimates show that the likelihood of out-migration to the United States rises during stages to the life cycle when household dependence is greatest and is increased by prior migrant experiences and a lack of access to productive resource. The probability of repeat migration increases with each U.S. trip and is primarily affected by characteristics of the prior trip. The likelihood of settlement grows steadily with the accumualation of U.S. migrant experience and is principally determined by varables surrounding the migrant experience itself. The likelihood of return migration declines steadily over time but is increased by owning property in Mexico and advancing age. These result support the conceptualization of migration as a dynamic social process with a strong internal momentum.

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