Migration decision making : the case of East Java

Abstract

This thesis deals with migration decision making in the province of East Java, Indonesia. The bulk of migration research in Indonesia can be classified into three approaches: behavioural, economic and structural. A review showed that each approach tends to focus on a limited aspects of the phenomenon resulting in partial knowledge and failure to adequately comprehend the migration decision as a whole. In this study migration decision making has been viewed from an integrated approach. The primary source of data concerned both migrants and non-migrants who were selected as respondents in a 1981 survey. The secondary source of data was information on the demographic, social and economic changes that formed the context of population movements in the study area. The various structural changes in East Java during the last 30 years, in spite of creating a dichotomy between the rural 'push' and the urban 'puli' at the societal level, also affected the individual, either directly or indirectly by changing the costs and benefits of migration. The young, educated and never married population would be more likely to migrate than their counterparts because they were able to adapt more easily to the new situations that resulted from structural changes in the society. In addition, the presence of relatives and friends in urban destinations played an important role in the migration decision. Thus, the nature of migration decision making in East Java was basically a process of interaction between the individual, economy and society. Show more