Linking internal and international migration in 13 European countries: complementarity or substitution?

Internal and international migration form part of the same continuum of population movement but are typically conceptualised, measured and studied separately. Despite early theoretical attempts at conceptualising internal and international migration jointly, existing evidence remains partial and fragmented, reflecting a diversity of traditions in migration research. To address this gap in knowledge, this paper takes a step towards integration by comparing the triggers, constraints and resources that shape internal and international migration decisions at the micro-level. To accomplish this, we analyse retrospective migration histories from a 13-country cross-national dataset (the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, n = 201,061 person-years from 6,112 individuals) using multinomial random-effect logistic regression models that account for duration dependence. The results show that internal and international migration are linked to the same life-course events, although economic-related transitions are more strongly associated with international than internal migration. We also find that the same resources (e.g. education) and constraints (e.g. homeownership) shape internal and international migration decisions. Altogether, our findings suggest that there is an opportunity for greater theoretical cross-fertilisation between internal and international migration.