Date of Award
8-29-2024
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Discipline
Social Sciences
Department
Sociology and Social Policy
First Advisor
Prof. DAVID Roman
Second Advisor
Prof. OLIVOS RAVE Francisco Javier
Abstract
Migration research on Africa has largely been guided by the theoretical perspective that unfavourable economic, social, and political conditions at the macrostructural level are drivers of emigration. These perspectives include the neoclassical equilibrium and push-pull theories, which hypothesize that underdevelopment, income inequality, and political terror act as push factors that motivate emigration from developing to developed regions. Globally, the region of Africa has generally been considered the most underdeveloped, politically unstable, and unequal in terms of income distribution. Despite these unfavourable conditions, Africans do not constitute the majority of the global emigrant population. Moreover, intra-regional migration within Africa is slightly higher than inter-continental emigration from the continent. This puzzling observation challenges the dominant theoretical perspective in migration research on Africa. While there is a general call to challenge the dominant perspective, only a few studies have attempted to do so, albeit inadequately. To address this puzzle, this thesis contributes to the growing body of research that relies on the aspirations-(cap)abilities framework, which offers competing hypotheses regarding the constraining effect of unfavourable conditions on emigration from developing countries. This thesis incorporates the theory of partisan exclusion from economic opportunities, as revealed through qualitative findings in Ghana, into the aspirations-(cap)abilities framework to examine its effect, along with other macro-level conditions, on emigration intentions in Africa. Partisan exclusion from economic opportunities refers to the phenomenon where access to state employment and business opportunities depends on one’s connection with a political group. The thesis adopts a multi-method approach, involving qualitative and quantitative approaches. The thesis merged country-level indicators onto a micro-level dataset of African adults in 33 countries from round seven of the Afrobarometer survey database. For the analyses, the thesis employed binary and multinomial logit models. First, net of micro, meso, and other macro level factors, (1) increasing levels of human development has positive effect on emigration intention in Africa; (2) increasing levels of income inequality and political terror has negative effect on emigration intention in Africa; (3) increasing levels of partisanship exclusion from economic opportunities has positive effect on emigration intention in Africa. Similar results were observed among those planning to emigrate to Europe, North America, and other world regions. Second, highly educated African adults were more likely to plan emigrating from home countries with increasing levels of income inequality, human development, and partisanship exclusion from economic opportunities. Similar results were observed among those planning to emigrate to Europe, North America, and other world regions. The results generally support the aspirations-(cap)abilities hypotheses. To conclude, (1) policy efforts to promote equal distribution of income, development interventions, and political stability will cause many African adults to plan emigration to more developed regions rather than reduce it; (2) putting policies in place to ensure fair access to economic opportunities could dissuade many African adults from emigrating.
Language
English
Copyright
The copyright of this thesis is owned by its author. Any reproduction, adaptation, distribution or dissemination of this thesis without express authorization is strictly prohibited.
Recommended Citation
Agbadi, P. (2024). Beyond poverty and violence: Aspirations, capabilities, opportunity structures, and cross-border migration intention in Africa (Doctoral thesis, Lingnan University, Hong Kong). Retrieved from https://commons.ln.edu.hk/otd/204/