Publication Date
Spring 2026
Subject Area
Section 5: Migration Station
Abstract
Literature about migration often focuses on “refugee crises” or “immigration crises,” but the causes of these crises are those which take place in the origin country. The reasons, or push factors, of why individuals are emigrating from their home countries is the central question of this study. This cross-sectional research study focuses on seven of these potential causes in the year 2024 and spans one hundred and sixty five countries. These seven causes, or the independent variables, are: conflict, human rights, political rights, gross domestic product (GDP), civil liberties, unemployment, and education. This research study as a whole is statistically significant, though not all the independent variables are. I find that conflict, human rights, GDP, and education are all statistically significant, while the other variables are not. Out of those, conflict and human rights are both substantively significant as well. My study helps to explain only a small portion of the causes of emigration, as seen in the model summary table where the adjusted R squared value is 0.283. Whilst this low value is not ideal, it points to the need of further and continuous research into the topic of emigration.
Included in
International and Area Studies Commons, Political History Commons, Political Science Commons, Social History Commons
