The migration response to economic shock: lessons from Kazakhstan

This paper examines the determinants of migration between Kazakhstan and Russia for different age groups and by urban/rural residence, using monthly data for the period 1995 to 1999. Using reconciled migration data and a comparable macroeconomic data set for the two countries, these monthly data make it possible to assess different groups' responses to differential economic events. We find a virtually immediate response to the 1998 Russian financial crisis and to relative exchange rate movements. However, longer lags apply to the response to construction activity and to wage differentials. Movements in real pensions do not induce important responses. (C) 2005 Association for Comparative Economic Studies. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.