Patterns and determinants of immigrants’ internal mobility : an analysis of the foreign born in the Chilean social support registry.

Abstract

This study describes the mobility patterns of foreign immigrants in Chile, beginning with their first location of residence and their later movements to other locations within the country. The study identifies how personal and territorial characteristics interact and correlate with individual location decisions, both when entering the country and in subsequent movements. Using panel data at the individual level from Chilean welfare agencies – the Ficha de Protección Social (FPS) and the Registro Social de Hogares (RSH) – for the period 2007-2018, an OLS and Logit models was estimated accounting for different aspects of the migration decision, the main results are as follows: (1) immigrants have a higher probability of inter-regional movement than native Chileans; (2) employmentrelated factors (such as the territorial percentage of the work force in mining) and income are the main drivers related to residence change; (3) the presence of the mining industry is key in the decision of the foreign-born to select their first location of residence in Chile, and in subsequent movements; (4) foreign-born living in Santiago have a higher probability to remain there compared to the native born; (5) among foreign born, women and younger people are more likely to move; and finally (6) that there is a positive though small relationship between internal movements and education.