UNHAPPY MOVES? ASSESSING THE LINK BETWEEN LIFE (DIS)SATISFACTION AND INTENTION TO EMIGRATE FROM AZERBAIJAN
UNHAPPY MOVES? ASSESSING THE LINK BETWEEN LIFE (DIS)SATISFACTION AND INTENTION TO EMIGRATE FROM AZERBAIJAN

Summary/Abstract: Illegal international emigration has been one ofthe biggest challenges during the last decade. Intention toemigrate is a step before making an emigration decisionand releasing the aspirations. The issue is crucial for bothsending and receiving country, depending on theimmigrant's life satisfaction whether it is a “happiness” oran “unhappiness” move. The study aims to investigate theimpact of life (dis)satisfaction on intention to emigratefrom the Muslim-majority society – Azerbaijan by usingthe representative survey data of 1317 respondents(nmale=718, nfemale=599, Meanage=32.62, SDage=11.75) andOrdinary Least Squares (OLS), Robust Least Squares andOrdered Logit estimation methods. Results altogethersupport the “unhappiness move” hypothesis. Emigrationintention in Azerbaijan is very high among dissatisfiedpeople, especially among the youth and males. Intention toemigrate decreases in response to positive change in selfreported happiness and age increase. Considering itsutmost importance, the Azerbaijani government shouldimplement policies targeted at enhancing citizens’ lifesatisfaction, particularly among the youth. Researchfindings are also highly useful for the potential emigrantreceiving countries to design the migration policy.

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