Happiness and International Migration: An Overview

Abstract

In recent happiness economy studies, it has been found that objective criteria such as absolute income is not the only effect on the life satisfaction of individuals. Socio-demographic characteristics such as age, gender, employment status, education, marital status neglected by neo-classical theory and many other factors like relative income, institutional factors, ethnic identity, discrimination etc. influence life satisfaction. There are many factors which effect immigration decision of individual. One of the most important ones is the economic improvement that they hope to obtain after migration. However, even if there is an absolute increase in the income of the individuals after the migration, their life satisfaction may decrease on the contrary to expectations. Post-migration individuals tend to compare themselves economically and socially with individuals in the country of destination or the country they left behind. Previous studies reveal that relative income is decisive on happiness of immigrants instead of absolute income. This study is a literature review regarding happiness-migration relation.

Keywords

• Happiness,Life Satisfaction,Relative Income,Immigration,Adaptation

Mutluluk ve Uluslararası Göç: Genel Bir Bakış

Abstract

Son yıllarda mutluluk ekonomisi adı altında yapılan çalışmalarda bireylerin yaşam memnuniyeti üzerinde yalnızca mutlak gelir gibi nesnel kriterlerin etkisinin olmadığı, Neo-klasik kuramın ihmal ettiği bireyin yaş, cinsiyet, istihdam durumu, eğitim, medeni durum gibi sosyo-demografik özelliklerinin yanı sıra nispi gelir, kurumsal faktörler, etnik kimlik, ayrımcılık vb. pek çok faktörün de etkili olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Bireyin göç kararının altında birçok etken yatmaktadır. Bunlardan en önemlilerinden birisi göç sonrası elde etmeyi umdukları ekonomik iyileşmedir. Ancak bireylerin gelirlerinde göç sonrası mutlak anlamda bir artış yaşansa bile yaşam memnuniyetleri beklenilenin aksine azalabilir. Göç sonrası bireyler kendilerini varış ülkesindeki veya geride bıraktığı ülkedeki bireylerle ekonomik ve sosyal açıdan kıyaslama eğilimindedirler. Yapılan çalışmalarda göç eden bireylerin mutluluğu üzerinde mutlak gelir yerine nispi gelirin daha belirleyici olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Bu çalışma mutluluk-göç ilişkisi üzerine yapılan bir literatür araştırmasıdır.  

Keywords

• Mutluluk,Yaşam Memnuniyeti,Nispi Gelir,Göç,Adaptasyon

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