Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Arthur Grimes
Author-X-Name-First: Arthur
Author-X-Name-Last: Grimes
Author-Email: arthur.grimes@motu.org.nz 
Author-Workplace-Name: Motu Economic and Public Policy Research
Author-Name: Dennis Wesselbaum
Author-X-Name-First: Dennis
Author-X-Name-Last: Wesselbaum
Author-Email: dennis.wesselbaum@otago.ac.nz
Author-Workplace-Name: University of Otago
Title: Moving towards happiness
Abstract: We add to the literature on the driving forces of international migration. While the existing literature establishes that income differences, migration costs, and certain other factors (e.g. climate or human rights) affect the migration decision, we focus on the broader role of nonpecuniary factors. We include well-being measures in a standard model of bilateral migration flows and enrich the analysis further by testing the effects on migration of inequality in happiness within a country. Our findings that both the mean and standard deviation of happiness - in both origin and destination countries - help explain bilateral migration flows over and above any income effect, indicates the need to incorporate both pecuniary and non-pecuniary factors when modelling migration choices.
Length: 22 pages
Creation-Date: 2018-05
File-URL: https://motu-www.motu.org.nz/wpapers/18_07.pdf
Number: 18_07
Classification-JEL: F22, O15, Q54
Keywords: Happiness, International Migration, Wellbeing. 
Handle: RePEc:mtu:wpaper:18_07