UNEMPLOYMENT, GOVERNANCE AND MIGRATION FLOWS IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

The extant study is an endeavor to evaluate the impact of unemployment, per capita GDP and governance on migration outflows utilizing the data from 1990 to 2016 for Pakistan. The results of the study estimated with ARDL approach corroborate that unemployment and governance index are major determinants of the migration. Specifically, the findings indicate that the GDP per capita and governance quality have negative and significant effects on migration while unemployment lead towards more migration, ceteris paribus. The study highlights the role of good governance in reducing both the brain drain of human capital and abstruse levels of unemployment in the country. The study recommends for the concerted endeavor by the extant government apparatus to optimize the migration levels and therein maximizing the socio-economic development in Pakistan.