A model of migration motivations: migration valuations and migration dispositions among rural youth in Kenya.

Abstract

This paper seeks an explanation for out-migration of people from rural Kenya. This requires an examination of the pre-migration stage and the factors which motivate some people to migrate and others to stay. Using variables which have been implied in interpretive models of migration, a model of the social-psychological valuation of migration and migration dispositions is built. This model is tested using information on youth in rural Kenya. The findings provide support for the feasibility of the model. They also demonstrate that, at any given time, factors in the objective, normative and subjective environments of rural communities in Kenya impart a social-psychological valuation of migration and migration dispositions on a proportion of rural youth in Kenya.