Cross-Cultural Lab: Aidan Tabor

Research proposal: migration decision-making

Aidan Tabor will be presenting her PhD research proposal which is on migration decision-making. The proposed study aims to explore first how families come to a decision to migrate internationally, and secondly, how they select New Zealand as their destination. The current theories of migration are economically focused, and center on the idea that people move because they want to make more money. These models are not as useful in New Zealand, where the largest group of migrants, those from the UK, select New Zealand despite the lower wages. Instead, previous research has indicated that factors such as lifestyle and environment are important to migrants who select New Zealand. Little is known about how migrants choose their destination, and the concept of place attachment (emotional bonds to physical places) is therefore proposed as a possible influence in the migration decision.