The Migration Response to the Economic Factors: Lessons from Kazakhstan

Abstract

This paper studies the influence of economic conditions in Kazakhstan to the willingness of people to migrate from Kazakhstan to Russia. There were high numbers of people emigrating from Kazakhstan to Russia in 2008 (10,365) and 2009 (11,187) due to the economic crisis in 2008. We argue that the lower economic development in Kazakhstan leads to the higher migration of people from Kazakhstan to Russia.

Economic data for Kazakhstan and Russia in 2004-2014 periods is examined to establish whether the economic development and net migration are strongly correlated. Net migration is the difference in total number of people leaving the country and coming to the country. A positive net migration occurs when there are more people entering to the country than going out. A negative net migration means that more people are leaving the country than coming in.

Moreover, in order to compare results among different social groups, relationship of net migration based on residency (urban and rural) and age categories to the economic indicators is analyzed. It is found out that net migration from Kazakhstan to Russia is highly affected by the economic situation in Kazakhstan, especially by unemployment level in Kazakhstan. Thus, the results indicate that urban residents more tend to move to Russia than rural residents due to It is concluded that economic reasons are significant for retired people.

Based on the results of the study, it is assumed that the migration situation will improve when Kazakhstan diversifies economy, invests in small and medium enterprises, and reviews employment policy