Exploring Migration Motivations from Developed to Developing Countries: A Study of American Emigrants to Developing Countries

Year 2024, Issue: 70, 78 - 97, 20.12.2024

Mustafa Şeref Akın

https://doi.org/10.26650/JECS2024-1436507

Abstract

This paper explores the motivations and challenges faced by American emigrants by focusing on the stories of 12 individuals who moved to developing countries. Through an in-depth analysis of social media videos produced by the CNBC Make It program and the migrants, the study provides firsthand insights into their decision-making processes and the factors influencing their choices. Our findings reveal that economic opportunities are not the primary driver of early decision-making. Instead, motivations for migration are deeply rooted in social and psychological aspects, such as detachment from home communities and personal growth and fulfillment. Economic considerations, including the ability to earn income from the U.S. (through online work, retirement, or passive income), become relevant for geographic arbitrage only after the decision to migrate has been made. Having an income from home country, combined with the lower cost of living in developing countries, enables Americans to achieve financial independence. Notably, tax benefits are a low priority, contrary to popular belief about tax avoidance as a motivation. Therefore, migration from developed to developing countries is primarily a personal decision driven by a desire for change, adventure, creativity, and self-discovery.

Keywords

Sociopsychological Factors, Personal Growth, Geographic Arbitrage, U.S. Migration, Developing Countries

References

• Abdullayev, I., Begishev, I., Yulia Limareva, Y., Hajiyev, H., Yumashev, A., & Natalia Prodanova, N. (2023). Impact of International Migration on the Internal Security of the State. Migration Letters, 20(S4), 424-433. google scholar
• Arellano-Bover, J., & San, S. (2020). The role of firms in the assimilation of immigrants. SSRN 3594778, 2018. google scholar
• Arif, I. (2020). The determinants of international migration: Unbundling the roles of economic, political and social institutions. The World Economy, 43(6), 1699-1729 google scholar
• Balancemoney. (2022). California Taxes are the Highest in the Nation. Retrieved from https://www.balancemoney.com google scholar
• Basch, L., Schiller, N. G., & Blanc, C. S. (2020). Nations unbound: Transnational projects, postcolonial predicaments, and territorialized nation-states. London: Routledge. google scholar
• Bhabha, H. (1994). The Location of Culture. London: Routledge. google scholar
• Bhandari, N. B. (2022). Homi K. Bhabha’s third space theory and cultural identity today: A critical review. Prithvi Academic Journal, 171-181. google scholar
• Bengen, W. P. (1994). Determining withdrawal rates using historical data. Journal of Financial Planning, 7(1), 171-180. google scholar
• Bengen, W. P. (1996). Asset allocation for a lifetime. Journal of Financial Planning, 9(3), 58-67. google scholar
• Bengen, W. P. (1997). Conserving client portfolios during retirement, part III. Journal of Financial Planning, 10(5), 84-97. google scholar
• Bengen, W. P. (2017). I’m Bill Bengen, and I first proposed the 4% safe withdrawal rate in 1994. Ask me anything! Retrieved from https: //www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/comments/6vazih/im_bill_bengen_and_i_first_proposed_the_4_safe/ google scholar
• Berry, J. W. (1997). Immigration, culturation, and Adaptation. Applied Psychology, 46(1), 5-34. google scholar
• Berry, J. W. (2005). Acculturation: Successfully living in two cultures. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29(6), 697-712. google scholar
• Berry, J. W., & Hou, F. (2021). Immigrant acculturation and well-being across generations and settlement contexts in Canada. International Review of Psychiatry, 33(1-2), 140-153. google scholar
• Bierwirth, L. (1994). Investing in retirement: using the past to model the future. Journal of Financial Planning, 7(1), 14-24. google scholar
• Borjas, G. J. (1985). Assimilation, changes in cohort quality, and immigrants’ earnings. Journal of Labor Economics, 3(4), 463-489. google scholar
• Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. google scholar
• Bueker, C. S. (2021). It’s Because You Don’t See Yourself as Unequal to Anybody: Exploring the Segmented Assimilation Model in the Experiences of 1.5- and 2nd Generation Females in an Elite Public High School. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 22(3), 791-807. google scholar
• Caminero, L. M., & McGarrigle, J. (2022). Socio-spatial negotiations in Lisbon: Reflections of working-aged lifestyle migrants on place and privilege. Population, Space, and Place, 13, 1-10. google scholar
• Chiswick, B. R. (2018). The effect of Americanization on the earnings of foreign-born men. In The New Immigrant in the American Economy (pp. 111-136). London: Routledge. google scholar
• Cooley, P. L., & Hubbard, C. M. & Walz, D. T. (1998). Retirement spending: Select a sustainable withdrawal rate. Journal of the American Association of Individual Investors, 20(2), 16-21. google scholar
• Crawford, M. (2020). Ecological Systems theory: Exploring the development of the theoretical framework as proposed by Bronfenbrenner. J Pub Health Issue Pract, 4(2), 170. google scholar
• Dalmatian Report. (2023). Cost of Living Across Europe. https://linktr.ee/dalmatian.mapper. google scholar
• Durham.Rent cafe. (2023). What is the average monthly rent in Manhattan? https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/ny/ manhattan/ google scholar
• Economist Intelligence Unit. (2022). Worldwide Cost of Living. www.wcol.com google scholar
• EU Statistics. (2022). Population statistics. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statisticsexplained/index.php?title=Population_ and_population_change_statistics#:$\sim$:text=Highlights&text=On%201%20January%202022%2C%20the,fewer%20than%20the% 20previous%20year.&text=The%20EU%20population%20decreased%20in, more%20deaths%20than%20in%202019 google scholar
• Euronews. (2022). Bali’s new digital nomad visa enables foreigners to live and work in Indonesia tax-free. Retrieved from https://www.euronews. com/travel/2022/06/24/balis-new-digital-nomad-visa-means-foreigners-can-live-and-work-in-indonesia-tax-free google scholar
• Ferriss, T. (2007). The 4-hour workweek: escape 9-5, live anywhere, and join the New Rich. New York: Crown Publishers. google scholar
• Fieber J. (2018). 5 Steps To Retire In 5 Years. New York: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. google scholar
• Friedman, T. L. (2005). The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, google scholar
• Gupta M, Shaheen M, Reddy KP. (2018). Qualitative Techniques for Workplace Data Analysis. Pennsylvania: IGI Global. google scholar
• Hall, S. (2015). Cultural Identity and Diaspora. In Colonial discourse and postcolonial theory (pp. 392-403). London: Routledge. google scholar
• Hayes, M. (2014). We gained a lot over what we would have had’: The geographic arbitrage of North American lifestyle migrants to Cuenca, Ecuador. Journal ofEthnic and Migration Studies, 40(12), 1953-1971. google scholar
• Hennink M. and Kaiser B.N. (2022). Sample sizes for saturation in qualitative research: A systematic review of empirical tests. Soc Sci Med. Jan, 292: 114523. google scholar
• Inditoday (2023). Major tech companies fired more than 50000 employees in January 2023. Retrieved from https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/ news/story/google-to-amazon-5-major-tech-companies-fired-more-than-50000-employees-in-january-2023-2332222-2023-02-08 google scholar
• IRS. (2022). Federal tax rate. Retrieved from www.irs.org google scholar
• Jafari, H. (2020). Resilience in the context of refugee youth’s adaptation to a new life in Canada. Retrieved from www.prism.ucalgary.ca google scholar
• Jung, P. R., and Buhr, F. (2021). Channeling mobilities: Migrant-owned businesses as mobility infrastructures. Mobilities, 17(1), 119-135. google scholar
• Karlgaard, R. (2004). Outsource yourself. Forbes Magazine, April 19. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2004/0419/033.html. Accessed on January 30, 2023. google scholar
• Karlgaard, R. (2006). Special report: 150 cheap places to live. Forbes Magazine, May 5. http://www.forbes.com/2005/10/31/ karlgaardbroadbandtelecommuting_cz_rk_1101liverich.html. google scholar
• Kelly, Philip F., Yeung, H., & Coe, N. (2019). Economic Geography: A Contemporary Introduction. 3rd Edition. New York: Wiley-Blackwell. google scholar
• King, R., Cela, E., & Fokkema, T. (2021). New frontiers in international retirement migration. Aging & Society, 41(1), 1205-1220. google scholar
• Koh, S. Y. (2021). Disrupted geographic arbitrage and differential capacities for later life: Anglo-Western teacher expatriates in Brunei. International Migration Review, 55(2), 322-346. google scholar
• Lee, E. S. (1966). A Theory of Migration. Demography, 3(1), 47-57. google scholar
• Lindert, J., von Ehrenstein, O. S., Priebe, S., Mielck, A., & Brahler, E. (2009). Depression and anxiety in labor migrants and refugees: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Social Science & Medicine, 69(2), 246-257. google scholar
• Lindgren B-M, Lundman B., & Graneheim U.H. (2020). Abstraction and interpretation during the qualitative content analysis process. Int J Nurs Stud;108:103632. google scholar
• Mancinelli, F. (2020). Digital nomads: freedom, responsibility and the neoliberal order. Information Technology and Tourism, 22, 417-437. google scholar
• Morgan, D. F., R. T. Green, C. W. Shinn, K. S. Robinson, and M. E. (2021). Foundations of Public Service: E Pluribus Unum. London: Routledge. google scholar
• Numbeo. (2022). Cost of living. Retrieved from https://www.numbeo.com/costofliving google scholar
• Ong, A. (1999). Flexible citizenship: the cultural logics of transnationalism. Durham: Duke University Press. google scholar
• Pfau, W. (2018). Trinity study and portfolio success rates. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadepfau/2018/01/16/ the-trinity-study-and-portfolio-success-rates-updated-to-2018/?sh=5c9bb7256860 google scholar
• Portes, A., and M. Zhou (1993). The second generation: segmented assimilation and its variants. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, 530(1), 74-96. google scholar
• Portes, A., & Manning, R. D. (2019). The immigrant enclave: Theory and empirical examples. In Social Stratification, Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological Perspective, 2nd Edition (pp. 568-579). London: Routledge. google scholar
• Putnam, R. D. (2007). E pluribus unum: Diversity and community in the twenty-first century the 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture. Scandinavian political studies, 30(2), 137-174. google scholar
• Robin, V., Dominguez, J. and Tilford, M. (2008). Your Money Or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence. New York: Penguin Books. google scholar
• Ullah, A. A. (2024). Struggles in identity formation: second-generation South Asian diaspora overseas. South Asian Diaspora, 1-16. google scholar
• Urbanski M. (2022). Comparing Push and Pull Factors Affecting Migration. Economies. 10(1):21. google scholar
• Solano, G. & Huddleston, T. (2021). Beyond immigration: Moving from Western to Global Indexes of Migration Policy. Global politics, 12(3), 327-337. google scholar
• Skeldon. R. (2021). Skilled Labor. Edited by Tanja Bastia, Ronald Skeldon, Routledge Handbook of Migration and Development. ISBN 9781315276908. google scholar
• Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (2004). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. Political psychology. London: Psychology Press. google scholar
• Tulumello, S., & Allegretti, G. (2021). Articulating urban change in Southern Europe: Gentrification, touristification, and financialization in Mouraria, Lisbon. European Urban and Regional Studies, 28(2), 111-132. google scholar
• Van der Mensbrugghe, D., & Roland-Holst, D. (2009): Global economic prospects for increasing developing country migration into developed countries. Human Development Research Paper (HDRP) Series, 50. google scholar
• Young, I. (2015). Practical Empathy: For Collaboration and Ceativity in Your Work. New York: Rosenfeld Media. google scholar
• Young, I. (2022). Time to Listen: How Giving People Space to Speak Drives Invention and Inclusion (Assumptions Aside). (California: Indi Young Books. google scholar
• Zhou, M., & Bankston, C. L. (1998). Growing up American: How Vietnamese children adapt to life in the United States. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. google scholar