Who migrates and where? Insights into global migrant selectivity through South American migration

International migrants, especially those migrating for economic reasons, typically differ from non-migrant co-nationals in both observed (e.g., education) and unobserved characteristics (e.g., motivation). However, knowledge about such migrant selectivity, particularly from the Global South, remains...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Platt, Lucinda, Zuccotti, Carolina Viviana
Formato: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Recursos:Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
Repositorio:e-spacio. Repositorio Institucional de la UNED
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:e-spacio.uned.es:20.500.14468/31843
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14468/31843
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:63 Sociología
migrant selection
education
South America
South-South migration
South-North migration
selección migratoria
educación
migración Sur-Sur
migración Sur-Norte
América del Sur
Descrição
Resumo:International migrants, especially those migrating for economic reasons, typically differ from non-migrant co-nationals in both observed (e.g., education) and unobserved characteristics (e.g., motivation). However, knowledge about such migrant selectivity, particularly from the Global South, remains limited. South America is a key region for studying this issue, as half of South American migrants live in another South American country, while the other half reside in Europe or the US. Using harmonized census data from IPUMS, we explore how migrant educational selectivity varies by origin and destination, and how it evolves over three decades (1990s–2010s). We show that South American migrants are selected in general but are more selected when moving to more distant or challenging locations, such as the US. At the same time, intraregional moves can also be highly selective, and at times resemble those directed toward Europe (where selectivity remains lower than to the US).