Family Migration Capital and Migration Intentions

Does a history of migration in the family influence one’s decision to move abroad? This paper argues that intergenerational transmission of ‘migration capital’ accumulated in the family is a significant determinant of current decisions to migrate. Using an ordered probit methodology to analyse data from a survey of 2161 respondents conducted in Latvia in 2007, we find support for our hypothesis: children of former migrants are more likely to migrate themselves, compared to people without family migration experience. The country of Latvia serves as an unusually instructive laboratory for our analysis due to the planned nature of its 1945–1991 immigration flows.