Determinants of International Migration in Argentina: Differences between European and Latin American Flows

Roxana Maurizio, Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento (UNGS)

This paper aims to study, with a long-term perspective, the factors associated with immigrant flows to Argentina from Europe (Spain and Italy) and South America, focusing on economic, labor market and political determinants of these flows. Taking into account these economic and non-economic factors, a set of different econometric models is performed and estimates are made for both the first wave of migration during the period from 1870 to 1950, and the second wave during the period from 1945 to 1976. The comparison between the estimates for the first- and second- migratory waves indicates a shift in the order of importance of the determinants of the entry rate, where the income gap, more than opportunities of employment differentials, appears to be the variable that generates the greatest reaction in the regional immigratory flows. On the contrary, European flows seem to have been triggered by the second factor.