Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Fatalistic Beliefs and Migration Behaviors: A Study of Ideational Demography in Nepal

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Population Research and Policy Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We investigate influences of fatalistic beliefs on domestic and international migration in Nepal, positing that fatalistic beliefs may affect decisions to migrate and where to locate. Fatalism is the belief that human outcomes are preordained by forces outside of one’s power and control. Because of its relationship with effort and innovation, fatalism may be an important factor in people’s decision to migrate and destination choice. We expect that fatalistic beliefs encourage or discourage migration depending upon societal expectations to migrate and the relative ease of migration to different destinations. Our empirical analysis relies on migration histories of respondents from the Chitwan Valley Family Study. Results from multinomial logistic regression models provide evidence that fatalistic beliefs increase overall migration propensity and has both positive and negative destination-specific effects. Fatalistic beliefs increase Nepalis’ odds of migrating to destinations that are, relatively speaking, easier to access, but decrease the odds of migrating to destinations with higher barriers to entry.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Our conceptualization of fatalism is different than that used in some other migration studies in which individuals are seen as having beliefs about whether their fate is destined to be good or bad or as having beliefs that they can succeed in having an external force tip good luck in their direction (Gereke 2016; Hagan 2008). These other kinds of fatalistic beliefs might be relevant for migration as they could influence beliefs about the outcome of migration. However, our conceptualization is different; we hypothesize that belief in the existence of fatalism itself affects migration by influencing the amount of effort a person is willing to exert to accomplish goals.

References

  • Acevedo, G. A. (2005). Turning anomie on its head: Fatalism as Durkheim’s concealed and multidimensional alienation theory. Sociological Theory, 23(1), 75–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adhikari, J., & Hobley, M. (2015). ‘Everyone is leaving. who will sow our fields?’ The livelihood effects on women of male migration from Khotang and Udaypur Districts, Nepal, to the Gulf countries and Malaysia. Himalaya, The Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies, 37(1), 11–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allendorf, K., & Thornton, A. (2015). Caste and choice: The influence of developmental idealism on marriage behavior. American Journal of Sociology, 121(1), 243–287.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allison, P. D. (1984). Event history analysis: Regression for longitudinal event data. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amen, M. M., & Clarke, V. P. (2001). The influence of mothers’ health beliefs on use of preventive child health care services and mothers’ perception of children’s health status. Issues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing, 24(3), 153–163.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atoh, M. (2001). Very low fertility in Japan and value change hypotheses. Review of Population and Social Policy, 10, 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bach, R. L., & Smith, J. (1977). Community satisfaction, expectations of moving, and migration. Demography, 14(2), 147–167.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bachrach, C. A. (2014). Culture and demography: From reluctant bedfellows to committed partners. Demography, 51(1), 3–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bachrach, C. A., & Morgan, S. P. (2013). A cognitive-social model of fertility intentions. Population and Development Review, 39(3), 459–485.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control (1st ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barber, J. S. (2001). Ideational influences on the transition period to parenthood: Attitudes toward childbearing and competing alternatives. Social Psychology Quarterly, 64, 101–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, L. (1983). Dangerous wives and sacred sisters: Social and symbolic roles of high-caste women in Nepal (1st ed.). New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhandari, P. (2004). Relative deprivation and migration in an agricultural setting of Nepal. Population and Environment, 25(5), 475–499.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhandari, P. B. (2013). Rural livelihood change? Household capital, community resources and livelihood transition. Journal of Rural Studies, 32, 126–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhandari, P., & Ghimire, D. (2013). Rural agricultural change and fertility transition in Nepal. Rural Sociology, 78(2), 229–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bista, D. B. (1991). Fatalism and development: Nepal’s struggle for modernization. Calcutta: Orient Longman Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bjarnason, T., & Thorlindsson, T. (2006). Should I stay or should I go? Migration expectations among youth in icelandic fishing and farming communities. Journal of Rural Studies, 22(3), 290–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bohra-Mishra, P., & Massey, D. S. (2009). Processes of internal and international migration from Chitwan, Nepal. International Migration Review, 43(3), 621–651.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brettell, C. B. (2016). Perspectives on migration theory—Anthropology. In M. J. White (Ed.), International handbook of migration and population distribution, international handbooks of population (pp. 41–67). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broughton, C. (2008). Migration as engendered practice: Mexican men, masculinity, and northward migration. Gender & Society, 22(5), 568–589.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell, J. C. (1982). Theory of fertility decline. London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carling, J., & Collins, F. (2018). Aspiration, desire and drivers of migration. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 44(6), 909–926.

    Google Scholar 

  • Central Bureau of Statistics. (2011). Nepal living standards survey 2010/11: Statistical report volume two. Kathmandu: Central Bureau of Statistics. National Planning Commission Secretariat, Government of Nepal.

    Google Scholar 

  • Central Bureau of Statistics. (2012). National Population and Housing Census 2011—National report. Kathmandu: National Planning Commission Secretariat, Government of Nepal.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiang, Y.-L., Hannum, E., & Kao, G. (2015). It’s not just about the money: Gender and youth migration from rural China. Chinese Sociological Review, 47(2), 177–201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cobb-Clark, D. A., Kassenboehmer, S. C., & Schurer, S. (2014). Healthy habits: The connection between diet, exercise, and locus of control. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 98, 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conger, K. J., Williams, S. T., Little, W. M., Masyn, K. E., & Shebloski, B. (2009). Development of mastery during adolescence: The role of family problem solving. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 50(1), 99–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Creighton, M. J. (2013). The role of aspirations in domestic and international migration. The Social Science Journal, 50(1), 79–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Curran, S. R., Garip, F., Chung, C. Y., & Tangchonlatip, K. (2005). Gendered migrant social capital: Evidence from Thailand. Social Forces, 84(1), 225–255.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Jong, G. F. (2000). Expectations, gender, and norms in migration decision-making. Population Studies, 54(3), 307–319.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Jong, G. F., & Fawcett, J. T. (1981). Motivations for migration: An assessment and a value-expectancy research model. In G. F. De Jong & R. W. Gardner (Eds.), Migration decision making: Multidisciplinary approaches to microlevel studies in developed and developing countries (pp. 13–58). New York: Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Jong, G. F., Richter, K., & Isarabhakdi, P. (1996). Gender, values, and intentions to move in rural Thailand. The International Migration Review, 30(3), 748–770.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Jong, G. F., et al. (1983). International and internal migration decision making: A value-expectancy based analytical framework of intentions to move from a rural Philippine Province. The International Migration Review, 17(3), 470–484.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deane, G. D. (1990). Mobility and adjustments: Paths to the resolution of residential stress. Demography, 27(1), 65–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dohrenwend, B. P. (1959). Egoism, altruism, anomie, and fatalism: A conceptual analysis of Durkheim’s types. American Sociological Review, 24(4), 466–473.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donato, K. M. (1993). Current trends and patterns of female migration: Evidence from Mexico. The International Migration Review, 27(4), 748–771.

    Google Scholar 

  • Durkheim, E. (1897/1951). Suicide: A study in sociology. In G. Simpson, & J. A. Spaulding (Eds.). Glencoe, IL: Free Press.

  • Ergenekon-Ozelci, P., Elmaci, N., Ertem, M., & Saka, G. (2006). Breastfeeding beliefs and practices among migrant mothers in slums of Diyarbakir, Turkey, 2001. The European Journal of Public Health, 16(2), 143–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Esteve, A., Lesthaeghe, R., & Lopez-Gay, A. (2012). The Latin American Cohabitation Boom, 1970–2007. Population and Development Review, 38(1), 55–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, P. A., & Malmberg, G. (2001). Settled People don’t move: On life course and (im-)mobility in Sweden. International Journal of Population Geography, 7(5), 357–371.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (2009). Predicting and changing behavior: The reasoned action approach. New York, NY: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fricke, T. E. (1997). Culture theory and population process: Toward a thicker demography. In D. I. Kertzer & T. E. Fricke (Eds.), Anthropological demography: Toward a new synthesis (pp. 248–277). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frye, M. (2012). Bright futures in Malawi’s new dawn: Educational aspirations as assertions of identity. American Journal of Sociology, 117(6), 1565–1624.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garip, F. (2016). On the move: Changing mechanisms of Mexico-U.S. migration. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gereke, J. (2016). Deciding to migrate: The role of social preferences, biased beliefs and superstition in a risky choice (Dissertation). European University Institute.

  • Goldscheider, C. (2006). Religion, family, and fertility: What do we know historically and comparatively? In R. Derosas & F. Van Poppel (Eds.), Religion and the decline of fertility in the western world (pp. 41–57). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Government of Nepal. (2014). Labour migration for employment: A status report for Nepal: 2013/14. Kathmandu: Department of Foreign Employment, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of Nepal.

    Google Scholar 

  • Government of Nepal. (2016). Labour migration for employment: A status report for Nepal: 2014/15. Kathmandu: Department of Foreign Employment, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of Nepal.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grabowski, L. J. S., Call, K. T., & Mortimer, J. T. (2001). Global and economic self-efficacy in the educational attainment process. Social Psychology Quarterly, 64(2), 164–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood, M. J. (1985). Human migration: Theory, models, and empirical studies. Journal of Regional Science, 25(4), 521–544.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood, M. J. (2016). Perspectives on migration theory—Economics. In M. J. White (Ed.), International handbook of migration and population distribution (pp. 31–40). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths, C., & Kuppermann, M. (2008). Perceptions of prenatal testing for birth defects among rural Latinas. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 12(1), 34–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gurung, H. B. (1983). Internal and international migration in Nepal. Kathmandu: HMG Population Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haller, M., & Hadler, M. (2008). Dispositions to act in favor of the environment: Fatalism and readiness to make sacrifices in a cross-national perspective. Sociological Forum, 23(2), 281–311.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagan, J. M. (2008). Migration miracle: Faith, hope, and meaning on the undocumented journey. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. R., & Todaro, M. P. (1970). Migration, unemployment and development: A two-sector analysis. The American Economic Review, 60(1), 126–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heine, S. J., Dar-Nimrod, I., Cheung, B. Y., & Proulx, T. (2017). Essentially biased: Why people are fatalistic about genes. In J. M. Olson (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 55, pp. 137–192). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hitlin, S., & Johnson, M. K. (2015). Reconceptualizing agency within the life course: The power of looking ahead. American Journal of Sociology, 120(5), 1429–1472.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hitlin, S., & Long, C. (2009). Agency as a sociological variable: A preliminary model of individuals, situations, and the life course. Sociology Compass, 3(1), 137–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Irwin, M., Blanchard, T., Tolbert, C., Nucci, A., & Lyson, T. (2004). Why people stay: The impact of community context on nonmigration in the USA. Population, 59(5), 567–591.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson-Hanks, J. A., Bachrach, C. A., Morgan, S. P., Kohler, H.-P., & Hoelter, L. (2011). Understanding family change and variation: Toward a theory of conjunctural action. London: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Judge, T. A., Erez, A., Bono, J. E., & Thoresen, C. J. (2003). The core self-evaluations scale: Development of a measure. Personnel Psychology, 56(2), 303–331.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jun, J., & Oh, K. (2013). Asian and Hispanic Americans’ cancer fatalism and colon cancer screening. American Journal of Health Behavior, 37(2), 145–154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamata, Y. (1999). The implicit mode of domination in Nepal: Fatalism and Bahunism as the main causes of underdevelopment. Contributions to Nepalese Studies, 26(1), 65–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kandel, W., & Massey, D. S. (2002). The culture of Mexican migration: A theoretical and empirical analysis. Social Forces, 80(3), 981–1004.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kauchali, S., Rollins, N., & Van den Broeck, J. (2004). Local beliefs about childhood diarrhoea: Importance for healthcare and research. Journal of Topical Pediatrics, 2, 82–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, H. H. (1973). The processes of causal attribution. American Psychologist, 28(2), 107–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, A. M., & Gust, D. A. (2008). Measles outbreak associated with a church congregation: A study of immunization attitudes of congregation members. Public Health Reports, 123(2), 126–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kern, A., & Müller-Böker, U. (2015). The middle space of migration: A case study on brokerage and recruitment agencies in Nepal. Geoforum, 65, 158–169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirk, D. S., & Papachristos, A. V. (2011). Cultural mechanisms and the persistence of neighborhood violence. American Journal of Sociology, 116(4), 1190–1233.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kollmair, M., Manandhar, S., Subedi, B., & Thieme, S. (2006). New figures for old stories: Migration and remittances in Nepal. Migration Letters, 3(2), 151–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kõu, A., & Bailey, A. (2014). ‘Movement is a constant feature in my life’: Contextualising migration processes of highly skilled Indians. Geoforum, 52, 113–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, B. A., Oropesa, R. S., & Kanan, J. W. (1994). Neighborhood context and residential mobility. Demography, 31(2), 249–270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehrer, E. L. (2009). Religion, economics, and demography: The effects of religion on education, work, and family. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesthaeghe, R. (2010). The unfolding story of the second demographic transition. Population and Development Review, 36(2), 211–251.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesthaeghe, R., & Neels, K. (2002). From the first to the second demographic transition: An interpretation of the spatial continuity of demographic innovation in France, Belgium, and Switzerland. European Journal of Population, 18(4), 225–260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, J. (2012). Cultural foundations of learning: East and west. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liang, Z., & White, M. J. (1997). Market transition, government policies, and interprovincial migration in China: 1983–1988. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 45(2), 321–339.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lundquist, J. H., & Massey, D. S. (2005). Politics or economics? International migration during the Nicaraguan Contra War. Journal of Latin American Studies, 37(1), 29–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marrow, H. B., & von Koppenfels, A. K. (2018). Modeling American migration aspirations: How capital, race, and national identity shape Americans’ ideas about living abroad. International Migration Review, 0197918318806852.

  • Massey, D. S. (1990). Social structure, household strategies, and the cumulative causation of migration. Population Index, 56(1), 3–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Massey, D. S., & España, F. G. (1987). The social process of international migration. Science (New York, NY), 237(4816), 733–738.

    Google Scholar 

  • Massey, D. S., & Espinosa, K. E. (1997). What’s driving Mexico-U.S. migration? A theoretical, empirical, and policy analysis. American Journal of Sociology, 102(4), 939–999.

    Google Scholar 

  • Massey, D. S., Williams, N., Axinn, W. G., & Ghimire, D. (2010). Community services and out-migration. International Migration, 48(3), 1–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Massey, D. S., et al. (1993). Theories of international migration: A review and appraisal. Population and Development Review, 19(3), 431–466.

    Google Scholar 

  • Massey, D. S., et al. (1994). An evaluation of international migration theory: The North American case. Population & Development Review, 20(4), 699–751.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miles, A. (2015). The (re)genesis of values examining the importance of values for action. American Sociological Review, 80(4), 680–704.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mirowsky, J., & Ross, C. E. (2007). Life course trajectories of perceived control and their relationship to education. American Journal of Sociology, 112(5), 1339–1382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monsutti, A. (2007). Migration as a rite of passage: Young Afghans building masculinity and adulthood in Iran. Iranian Studies, 40(2), 167–185.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nepal South Asian Centre (NESAC). (1998). Nepal human development report 1998. Kathmandu: NESAC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osella, F., & Osella, C. (2000). Migration, money and masculinity in Kerala. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 6(1), 117–133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pattisson, P. (2014). For aspiring Nepali migrants, the risks start at home. Aljazeera America, December 15.

  • Pearlin, L. I., Nguyen, K. B., Schieman, S., & Milkie, M. A. (2007). The life-course origins of mastery among older people. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 48(2), 164–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pedraza, S. (1991). Women and migration: The social consequences of gender. Annual Review of Sociology, 17, 303–325.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pérez, R. L. (2014). Crossing the border from boyhood to manhood: Male youth experiences of crossing, loss, and structural violence as unaccompanied minors. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 19(1), 67–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petersen, T. (1986). Estimating fully parametric hazard rate models with time-dependent covariates. Use of maximum likelihood. Sociological Methods and Research, 14, 219–247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petersen, T. (1991). The statistical analysis of event histories. Sociological Methods and Research, 19, 270–323.

    Google Scholar 

  • Powe, B. D., & Finnie, R. (2003). Cancer fatalism: The state of the science. Cancer Nursing, 26(6), 454–467.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prabhupada, A. C. B. S. (1998). Bhagavad-Gita as it is. Alachua: The Bhakitivedanta Book Trust International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rathaur, K. R. S. (2001). British Gurkha recruitment: A historical perspective. Voice of History, 16(2), 19–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed, H. E., Andrzejewski, C. S., & White, M. J. (2010). Men’s and women’s migration in Coastal Ghana: An event history analysis. Demographic Research, 22(25), 771–812.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ricketts, E. (1987). U.S. investment and immigration from the Caribbean. Social Problems, 34(4), 374–387.

    Google Scholar 

  • Root, B. D., & De Jong, G. F. (1991). Family migration in a developing country. Population Studies, 45(2), 221–233.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 80(1), 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryo, E. (2013). Deciding to cross: Norms and economics of unauthorized migration. American Sociological Review, 78(4), 574–603.

    Google Scholar 

  • Savage, M., Dumas, A., & Stuart, S. A. (2013). Fatalism and short-termism as cultural barriers to cardiac rehabilitation among underprivileged men. Sociology of Health & Illness, 35(8), 1211–1226.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schewel, K., & Fransen, S. (2018). Formal education and migration aspirations in Ethiopia. Population and Development Review, 44(3), 555–587.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seddon, D., Adhikari, J., & Gurung, G. (2002). Foreign labor migration and the remittance economy of Nepal. Critical Asian Studies, 34(1), 19–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, J. (2011). Culture of migration in the middle hills in Nepal. In International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (Ed.), Labor migration: Opportunities and challenges for mountain livelihoods (Vol. 59, pp. 18–20). International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development.

  • Sharma, S., & Gurung, G. (2009). Impact of global economic slowdown on remittance inflows and poverty reduction in Nepal. Mandikhatar, Kathmandu: Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS).

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, S., & Thapa, D. (2013). Taken for granted: Nepali migration to India. Centre for the Study of Labour and Mobility Working Paper III.

  • Shrestha, N. R., Velu, R. P., & Conway, D. (1993). Frontier migration and upward mobility: The case of Nepal. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 41(4), 787–816.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinatti, G. (2014). Masculinities and intersectionality in migration: Transnational Wolof migrants negotiating manhood and gendered family roles. In T.-D. Truong, D. Gasper, J. Handmaker, & S. I. Bergh (Eds.), Migration, gender and social justice. Hexagon series on human and environmental security and peace (Vol. 9, pp. 215–226). Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sjaastad, L. A. (1962). The costs and returns of human migration. Journal of Political Economy, 70(5), 80–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sloman, S. (2005). Causal models: How people think about the world and its alternatives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • South, S. J., & Crowder, K. D. (1997). Escaping distressed neighborhoods: Individual, community, and metropolitan influences. American Journal of Sociology, 102(4), 1040–1084.

    Google Scholar 

  • Speare, A. (1974). Residential satisfaction as an intervening variable in residential mobility. Demography, 11(2), 173–188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Speare, A. J., Goldstein, S., & Frey, W. H. (1975). Residential mobility, migration, and metropolitan change. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Speare, A., Kobrin, F., & Kingkade, W. (1982). The influence of socioeconomic bonds and satisfaction on interstate migration. Social Forces, 61(2), 551–574.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stark, O., & Bloom, D. E. (1985). The new economics of labor migration. The American Economic Review, 75(2), 173–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stark, O., & Levhari, D. (1982). On migration and risk in LDCs. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 31(1), 191–196.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stark, O., & Taylor, J. E. (1989). Relative deprivation and international migration. Demography, 26(1), 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stark, O., & Taylor, J. E. (1991). Migration incentives, migration types: The role of relative deprivation. The Economic Journal, 101(408), 1163–1178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson, J. W., & Stigler, J. W. (1992). The learning gap: Why our schools are failing and what we can learn from Japanese and Chinese education. New York: Simon Schuster Paperbacks.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stinner, W. F., & Van Loon, M. (1992). Community size preference status, community satisfaction and migration intentions. Population and Environment, 14(2), 177–195.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tarrant, M., & Thomson, N. (2008). Secrets to success: A qualitative study of perceptions of childhood immunisations in a highly immunised population. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 44(10), 541–547.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, J. E. (1986). Differential migration, networks, information, and risk. In O. Stark (Ed.), Migration, human capital, and development (pp. 141–171). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, J. E. (1987). Undocumented Mexico-U.S. migration and the returns to households in rural Mexico. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 69(3), 629–938.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thieme, S. (2006). Social networks and migration: Far West Nepalese labour migrants in Delhi. Münster: LIT Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thieme, S., & Wyss, S. (2005). Migration patterns and remittance transfer in Nepal: A case study of Sainik Basti in Western Nepal. International Migration, 43(5), 59–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thissen, F., Fortuijn, J. D., Strijker, D., & Haartsen, T. (2010). Migration intentions of rural youth in the Westhoek, Flanders, Belgium and the Veenkoloniën, the Netherlands. Journal of Rural Studies, 26(4), 428–436.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, A. (2001). The developmental paradigm, reading history sideways, and family change. Demography, 38(4), 449–465.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, A., Axinn, W. G., & Hill, D. H. (1992). Reciprocal effects of religiosity, cohabitation, and marriage. American Journal of Sociology, 98(3), 628–651.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, A., Axinn, W. G., & Teachman, J. D. (1995). The influence of school enrollment and accumulation on cohabitation and marriage in early adulthood. American Sociological Review, 60(5), 762–774.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, A., Axinn, W. G., & Xie, Yu. (2007). Marriage and cohabitation. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, A., & Rodgers, W. L. (1987). The influence of individual and historical time on marital dissolution. Demography, 24(1), 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, A., Williams, N., Bhandari, P., Young-DeMarco, L., Sun, C., Swindle, J., et al. (2019). Influences of material aspirations on migration. Demography, 56(1), 75–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Timmerman, C., Hemmerechts, K., & De Clerck, H. M.-L. (2014). The relevance of a ‘culture of migration’ in understanding migration aspirations in contemporary Turkey. Turkish Studies, 15(3), 496–518.

    Google Scholar 

  • Todaro, M. P. (1969). A model of labor migration and urban unemployment in less developed countries. The American Economic Review, 59(1), 138–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Todaro, M. P., & Maruszko, L. (1987). Illegal migration and US immigration reform: A conceptual framework. Population and Development Review, 13(1), 101–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uhlenberg, P. (1973). Noneconomic determinants of nonmigration: Sociological considerations for migration theory. Rural Sociology, 38(3), 276–311.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaisey, S. (2009). Motivation and justification: A dual-process model of culture in action. American Journal of Sociology, 114(6), 1675–1715.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Dalen, H. P., & Henkens, K. (2013). Explaining emigration intentions and behaviour in the Netherlands, 2005–10. Population Studies, 67(2), 225–241.

    Google Scholar 

  • VanWey, L. K. (2005). Land ownership as a determinant of international and internal migration in Mexico and internal migration in Thailand. International Migration Review, 39(1), 141–172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber, M. (1904–05/1958). The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

  • Wheaton, B. (1980). The sociogenesis of psychological disorder: An attributional theory. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 21(2), 100–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, M. J., & Johnson, C. (2016). Perspectives on migration theory—sociology and political science. In M. J. White (Ed.), International handbook of migration and population distribution, international handbooks of population (pp. 68–89). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, N. (2009). Education, gender, and migration in the context of social change. Social Science Research, 38(4), 883–896.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, N. E., Ghimire, D. J., Axinn, W. G., Jennings, E. A., & Pradhan, M. S. (2012). A micro-level event-centered approach to investigating armed conflict and population responses. Demography, 49(4), 1521–1546.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, R., & Ellis, M. (2016). Perspectives on migration theory—Geography. In M. J. White (Ed.), International handbook of migration and population distribution (pp. 12–30). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xie, Y., & Goyette, K. (2003). Social mobility and the educational choices of Asian Americans. Social Science Research, 32, 467–498.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yount, K. M. (2005). Resources, family organization, and domestic violence against married women in Minya, Egypt. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(3), 579–596.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Christine Bachrach, Katharine Donato, Douglas Massey, and Michael White for their helpful advice and comments on an earlier version of this article. We also appreciate the research support provided by a Grant (R01 HD078397) from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Our research was also supported by NICHD research Grants (R24 HD041028 and P2CHD041028) to the Population Studies Center of the University of Michigan and by an NICHD research infrastructure Grant (R24 HD042828) to the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology at the University of Washington. The content of this article is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48106, USA

    Arland Thornton, Prem Bhandari, Jeffrey Swindle, Linda Young-DeMarco & Cathy Sun

  2. University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Nathalie Williams & Christina Hughes

Authors
  1. Arland Thornton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Prem Bhandari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jeffrey Swindle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Nathalie Williams
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Linda Young-DeMarco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Cathy Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Christina Hughes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Arland Thornton.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Thornton, A., Bhandari, P., Swindle, J. et al. Fatalistic Beliefs and Migration Behaviors: A Study of Ideational Demography in Nepal. Popul Res Policy Rev 39, 643–670 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-019-09551-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-019-09551-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation