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Chain Migration

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Encyclopedia of Immigrant Health

Chain migration is a social process that is more complex than a simple mechanical process of people migrating. Sociological factors such as social networks are the key during the chain migration process. It is common for some scholars to refer to chain migration in the context of social network which usually operates within a social network that includes family, friends, community, etc. However, the term chain migration usually refers to the migration chain that operates within family members only. Most research on chain migration has focused on the operating mechanism of chain migration and its demographic and socioeconomic impact on the destination countries on a macro level. Some research has examined chain migration at local levels.

During a typical chain migration process, the initial immigrants migrate to a destination country on their own, although they have no family ties there. These initial immigrants will migrate either driven by the socioeconomic factors(such as wages,...

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© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Yu, B. (2012). Chain Migration. In: Loue, S., Sajatovic, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Immigrant Health. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5659-0_124

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5659-0_124

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