Happiness, Life Satisfaction and Migration Preliminary Analytic Approach Presentation prepared p for the Workshop on International Comparative Study on Happiness February 24 25 2014, Kyoto (Japan) Marcel Erlinghagen & Friedrich Scheller University of Duisburg Essen (Germany), Institute for Sociology
Introduction o Migration as a key factor of demographic change becomes moreimportant particularly l for highlyhl industrialized i d countries. o Central concern: Who comes, who goes and why? (brain drain vs. brain gain vs. brain circulation) o Most empirical work concentrates on immigration from developing or emerging countries and the integration of these immigrants in wealthier societies. o Only little is known about the structure and the motives of emigrants and the outcome of emigration from highly industrialized countries. 2
State of Research o u shaped macro level relationship between average LS in the source country and emigrationrates t (Polgreen & Simpson2011) o LS of immigrants compared to natives in destination countries is lower (Safi 2010; Bartram 2011) and differ according to their origin (Baltatescu 2007; Amit 2010; Bartram 2011) o no difference in LS between emigrants and stayers at the point of migration (Erlinghagen et al. 2009) o some increase of LS of emigrants comparing their situation prior emigration and after arriving in their destination country (Erlinghagen et al. 2009) o positive correlation between LS of emigrants and their duration of stay abroad compared to stayers (Erlinghagen 2011; Bartram 2013) 3
Research Question & Hypotheses The emigration process t 0 : event of emigration few results for LS at time of emigration no results for LS prior emigration ( anticipation ) some results for LS after emigration ( adaptation ) 4
Research Question & Hypotheses The emigration process t 0 : event of emigration few results for LS at time of emigration no results for LS prior emigration ( anticipation ) some results for LS after emigration ( adaptation ) Research question: How does individual LS develop prior emigration? 5
Theoretical Background o Individual actors try to maximize their individual utility o Maximizing individual utility = maximizing subjective well being (SWB) ( Social Production Function Theory, cf. Lindenberg & Frey 1993; Ormel et al. 1999) o Aim of migration: Maintain or increase SWB by maintaining or increasing life satisfaction (LS) o But: Onlylittleresearch onemigrationandls 6
Theoretical Background Possible developments of life satisfaction (LS) prior emigration (1) t 0 : event of emigration increasing LS baseline LS constant LS Development after emigration decreasing LS 7
Theoretical Background The emigration process (II) T 3 : decision to emigrate t 0 : event of emigration Incubation period Preparation period Development after emigration
Theoretical Background Possible developments of life satisfaction (LS) prior emigration (2) T 3 : decision to emigrate t 0 : event of emigration hump shaped LS baseline LS constant LS Development after emigration u shaped LS 9
Theoretical Background Estimated anticipating and adapting effect of moving on life satisfaction Source: Frijters et al. (2011: 200)
Data & Methods o Data from the German Socio Economic Panel Study (SOEP) provided by the German Institute for Economic research (DIW), Berlin (www.diw.de) o SOEP started in 1984; panel information on more than 12,000 households and their members (Wagner et al. 2007) o Access for national as well as international researcher (German and English hd data set & documentation) (www.diw.de/en/soep) d/ / o SOEP on You Tube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5okjyfhhaw4 Measuring General Life Satisfaction in the SOEP (Longitudinal data available since 1984) 11
Preliminary Analyses Strategy & Time Line Preliminary analyses strategy o Estimating Growth Curve Models (cf. Gerstdorf et al. 2008 on the development of LS prior death based on SOEP data) o Fixed effects panel regression models dl (f (cf. Clark et al. 2008 or Frijters et al. 2011 on anticipating and adaptation LS to marriage, divorce, unemployment etc. based on SOEP data) Time line 2013/10 2014/2 Literature review and development of a preliminary analyses approach 2014/3 2014/7 data preparation and analyses 2014/8 2014/10 preparing presentation and paper for conference in Paris 12
Thank you very much for your attention! 13
References Amit, K. (2010): Determinants of Life Satisfaction Among Immigrants from Western Countries and from the FSU in Israel. Social Indicators Research 96(3), 515 534. Baltatescu, S. (2007): Central and Eastern Europeans Migrants Subjective Quality of Life: A Comparative Study. Journal of Identity and Migration Studies 1(2), 67 81. Bartram, D. (2011): Economic Migration and Happiness: Comparing Immigrants and Natives' Happiness Gains from Income. Social Indicators Research 103(1), 57 76. Bartram, D. (2013): Happiness and economic migration : A comparison of Eastern European migrants and stayers. Migration Studies 1 (2), 156 175. 175 Clark, A.; Diener, E.; Georgellis, Y. and Lucas, R. E. (2008): Lags And Leads in Life Satisfaction: a Test of the Baseline Hypothesis. Economic Journal 118, F222 F243. Erlinghagen, M. (2011): Nowhere Better Than Here? The Subjective Well Being of German Emigrants and Remigrants. Comparative Population Studies36 (4), 899 926. 926. Erlinghagen, M., Stegmann, T. & Wagner, G. G. (2009): Deutschland ein Auswanderungsland? DIW Wochenbericht 76, 663 669. Frijters, P., Johnson, D. & Shields, M.A. (2011): Life Satisfaction Dynamics with Quarterly Life Event Data. Scandinavian Journal of Economics 113(1), 190 211. Gerstdorf, D. et al. (2008): Life Satisfaction Shows Terminal Decline in Old Age: Longitudinal Evidence from the German Socioeconomic Panel Study. Developmental Psychology 44(4), 1148 1159. Lindenberg, S. & Frey, B. S. (1993): Alternatives, Frames, and Relative Prices: A Broader View of Rational Choice Theory. Acta Sociologica 36, 191 205. Ormel, J.; Lindenberg, S., Steverink, N. & Verbrugge, L. M. (1999): Subjective Well Being and Social Production Functions. Social Indicators Research 46, 61 90. Polgreen, L. & Simpson, N. (2011): Happiness and International Migration. Journal of Happiness Studies 12(5), 819 840. Safi, M. (2010): Immigrants Life Satisfaction in Europe: Between Assimilation and Discrimination. European Sociological Review 26(2), 159 71. Wagner, G.G., Frick, J. R. &Schupp,J. (2007): The German Socio Economic Panel Study (SOEP) Scope, Evolution and Enhancements. Schmollers Jahrbuch (Journal of Applied Social Science Studies) 127 (1), 139 169. 14