Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/122131 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies Working Paper No. 12/2014
Publisher: 
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva
Abstract: 
Barriers to immigration of low-skilled workers from developing countries into the advanced countries prevent many potential migrants from leaving their countries of origin. With very low home-country wages in relation to the cost of undocumented migration, the opportunity to migrate often hinges on becoming indebted to a human smuggling organization or family and friends. This paper examines the conditions under which migration is optimal for an individual who lacks liquid assets, with a focus on alternative options for financing migration costs. One is by accumulating the required amount of savings out of source-country income, with or without financial support from the family or social network. The other is debt-bonded migration, which involves borrowing from a smuggling organization and paying o the loan while working in the host country. I find that greater financial support from the family network increases the attractiveness of debt-bonded relative to self-financed migration.
Subjects: 
liquidity constraints
debt-bonded labor
illegal immigration
financial support
JEL: 
F22
J61
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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