Social Humiliation and Labor Migration

Abstract

The main aim of the dissertation is a thorough analysis of occupational choices of individuals in an open economy setting (where migration is possible), providing a detailed answer to the question why migrants agree to perform abroad jobs that are humiliating, jobs they would not undertake at home. Also, an in-depth description of the related migratory phenomena – such as migrant assimilation, migration duration or the formation of migrant niches and ethnic clustering – is provided in the adopted humiliation context. The adopted modeling framework – a utility-maximizing individual perspective and a general equilibrium model – allows to significantly extend existing theories related to the dual market theory and behavioral economic models. On the basis of numerous extensions of a basic model of occupational choice, the Author contends that the analysis of migration incentives is incomplete without a consideration of the humiliation factor, and the incorporation of the proposed perspective yields an innovative view on many migration characteristics, allowing a clarification of motives signaled in empirical (qualitative) studies. The dissertation provides both a theoretical analysis of the phenomenon, as well as the results of empirical studies (based on various data sources) aimed at verifying the proposed theory and valuing humiliation related to performing degrading activities.