Khatai Aliyev

Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC), Baku Engineering University, Khirdalan, ASERC, Baku, Azerbaijan

E-mail: khatai.aliyev@unec.edu.az 

ORCID 0000-0001-8161-6269

Unhappy moves? Assessing the link between life (dis)satisfaction and intention to emigrate in Azerbaijan

Altay Ismayilov

Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC), Baku, Azerbaijan 

E-mail: altay.ismayilov@unec.edu.az 

ORCID 0000-0003-0716-7076

Ilkin Gasimov

Baku Engineering University, Khirdalan, Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Baku, Azerbaijan, UNEC Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC), Baku, Azerbaijan

E-mail: ilqasimov@beu.edu.az 

ORCID 0000-0003-1388-7571

Asmar Isayeva

Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC), Baku, Azerbaijan 

E-mail: asmarisayeva@gmail.com 

ORCID 0000-0003-2356-1348

Abstract. Illegal international emigration has been one of the biggest challenges during the last decade. Intention to emigrate is a step before making an emigration decision and releasing the aspirations. The issue is crucial for both sending and receiving country, depending on the immigrant's life satisfaction whether it is a “happiness” or an “unhappiness” move. The study aims to investigate the impact of life (dis)satisfaction on intention to emigrate from the Muslim-majority society – Azerbaijan by using the representative survey data of 1317 respondents (nmale=718, nfemale=599, Meanage=32.62, SDage=11.75) and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Robust Least Squares and Ordered Logit estimation methods. Results altogether support the “unhappiness move” hypothesis. Emigration intention in Azerbaijan is very high among dissatisfied people, especially among the youth and males. Intention to emigrate decreases in response to positive change in self-reported happiness and age increase. Considering its utmost importance, the Azerbaijani government should implement policies targeted at enhancing citizens’ life satisfaction, particularly among the youth. Research findings are also highly useful for the potential emigrant receiving countries to design the migration policy.

Received: April, 2021

1st Revision: August, 2021

Accepted: September, 2021

DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2021/14-3/7

JEL Classification: F22, I31, J18

Keywords: life satisfaction, intention to emigrate, unhappy move, migrant sending countries, migrant receiving countries, migration policy, Azerbaijan