Decisions in the face of migrant stocks: A disaggregated aid analysis | Kimberly Zhang, Smith College

Abstract

Poor economic opportunity and stability has created migrant flows -- both forced and voluntary. Consequently, foreign development assistance is an increasingly popular solution to alleviating the increase in global migrant flows. There is no consensus on whether these policies are effective in curtailing migration. A majority of the economic studies that focus on the link between aid and migration use aggregated aid totals, hiding the fact that certain types of aid may be more effective than others. Throughout my paper, I build upon existing literature that explains the link between aid and migration by looking at disaggregated aid types. I examine disaggregated aid by looking at subcategories within aid types. For instance, one such subcategory is Education, which is a form of social infrastructure and services aids. Based on my analysis, Production and Economic sector aid seem to be the most effective in curtailing migration to destination countries. Social sector and Humanitarian aids have mixed effects on migration stock. The relationship of aid on migration can have varying results dependent any many factors such as time period, geopolitical results, origin and destination countries’ characteristics. This paper examines how certain types of aid may change individuals’ migration decisions.