Emigration from Latvia: A Brief History and Driving Forces in the 21st Century

Hazans, Mihails (2019): Emigration from Latvia: A Brief History and Driving Forces in the 21st Century. Published in: Rita Kaša and Inta Mieriņa (eds.), The Emigrant Communities of Latvia: National Identity, Transnational Belonging and Return Migration. Berlin - Heidelberg: Springer Open (2019): pp. 35-68.

Abstract

In recent years, Latvia has established itself as one of the top two countries with the most intensive emigration among EU/EFTA member states. This chapter starts by describing the demographic context and the scale of emigration post-2000, followed by a brief history of the main population flows (migration, refugees, and deportation) from and to Latvia in the twentieth century. It then offers a more detailed analysis of emigration during the first 15 years of the twenty-first century including a closer look at the four waves of recent emigration: (i) the pre-EU accession wave, 2000–2003; (ii) the post-accession wave, 2004–2008; (iii) the crisis-driven wave, 2009–2010; and (iv) the post-crisis wave, 2011–2016. For each wave, a description of the economic and social context is given within a conceptual framework using insights from human capital theory, the new economic theory of migration, network theory, and migration systems theory. Institutional factors are also emphasized.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: emigration, selectivity of migrants, human capital, ethnic minorities, Latvia
• Subjects: J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J15 - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants ; Non-labor Discrimination; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J24 - Human Capital ; Skills ; Occupational Choice ; Labor Productivity; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J6 - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers > J61 - Geographic Labor Mobility ; Immigrant Workers; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J6 - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers > J62 - Job, Occupational, and Intergenerational Mobility

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