CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2013
| Author | Pusti, Zachariah Joseph |
|---|---|
| Title | Persistence in Recession: Return Migration during the Economic Crisis in Spain |
| Summary | This thesis examines the impact of the current economic crisis on return migration from Spain. With a soaring economy and an abundance of employment opportunities, Spain had attracted an extraordinarily high inflow of migration in the early 2000s. However, with the onset of the economic crisis in 2007 and 2008, such immigrants were among the first to experience the economic downturn and soaring unemployment. Yet, as the economic crisis in Spain persists and unemployment continues to swell, the majority of immigrants surprisingly choose to stay in Spain rather than return to the country of origin. Therefore, with this puzzle, the aim of this thesis is to examine why return migration from Spain is so low. Using the hypotheses of new economics of labor migration (NELM) and migration systems theory (MST) in a complimentary and cooperative fashion, I explore the initial reasons for immigrating to Spain, the social conditions experienced while in Spain, and the effects of economic crisis on immigrants, to identify the various explanations for low return migration. By using both a quantitative and qualitative approach I combine a data analysis of previous reports and scholarly articles with the results of 22 open-ended questionnaires, answered by immigrants currently living in Spain, to demonstrate the significance of various variables which may often be overlooked, such as security and social benefits. Finally, from the results of the questionnaire I suggest a hypothesis which incorporates the influence of settled families and households in the host country on return migration. |
| Supervisor | Pedroza, Luicy |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2013/pusti_zachariah.pdf |
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