Social capital, networks and emigration from Latin America: a comparative analysis

Douglas S. Massey, Princeton University

Prior research in Mexico has documented the powerful role played by migrant networks in promoting emigration to the United States. A major question is whether networks have such power in other countries that do not border the United States and lack such a long migratory tradition. This paper combines data from the Latin American Migration Project and the Mexican Migration Project to undertake a comparative analysis of how networks operate to promote emigration from three regions: the Caribbean (Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Haiti); Mexico; Central America (Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Guatemala); and the Andes (Peru and Ecuador). Discrete time event history models will be estimated to measure the effect of personal connections to migrants and the prevalence of migrants in the community affect the odds of international out-migration, and whether the effect differs by place of origin and point of destination (USA versus Europe or other destination).