The Influence of Family and Friends on Geographic Labor Mobility: An International Comparison

T HE hypothesis that previous migrants from one region to another exert a significant influence on the volume and direction of current migration flows has recently been tested for the case of a less developed country by Michael Greenwood (1973). Utilizing 1961 census data for India he found that recent migrants do have a strong tendency to migrate to localities which had previously attracted natives of their region. He also found that failure to include the effect of earlier flows led to an overestimate of the true direct relationship between the current flow of migrants and variables such as income and urbanization. In this paper we present additional evidence on the influence of previous migration on current migration in less developed countries. Utilizing data from the 1961 Population Census of Venezuela, we find results similar to those in the study of migration in India despite some marked differences between the two countries. Past migrant flows can be expected to influence current migration for several important reasons. Family and friends who have previously migrated from one region to another may provide information about their present location to persons residing in their former place of residence. Former migrants may also provide temporary food and shelter as well as ease social transition. Greenwood emphasizes that the relatively low levels of literacy and linguistic differences between regions in India are likely to increase the influence of family and friends on current migration. Venezuela, on the other hand, has relatively high levels of adult literacy and more than 70 per cent of the population speak the same language. The two countries also differ with respect to their social organization and income levels. The extended family is characteristic of India, while the nuclear family is predominant in Venezuela. Per capita GNP was only about 80 dollars per year in India in 1960, compared with over 600 dollars in Venezuela.1 Thus the results of our study not only add to the evidence on the influence of previous migration on current flows but also provide a basis for comparison of that influence between two dissimilar less developed countries.