The Emigration-Region Concept, Emergence Mechanism and Characteristics: A Case Study of the Opolskie Voivodeship

Abstract

This paper presents the concept of the emigration region that emerged as a result of wide research identifying the causes of emigration and migration networks, as well as the demographic and socio-economic consequences of significant emigration for particular regions. It is an overview based on long-standing research by the authors and draws heavily on numerous contributions that address the links between regional development and long-term migration outflow. The hypothesis is that an emigration region is formed under the influence of long-term and mass emigration resulting in progressive depopulation and characterised by a set of economic, social and cultural features clearly distinguishing it from regions where such a pattern of relationships is either missing or incidental. Identified features of emigration regions include a well-established tradition of emigration, the long-term nature of emigration, a significant quantitative dimension of emigration, well-developed networks of social relationships between the countries of outflow and inflow, the complex socio-political and economic reasons for emigration and the specific consequences of it, observed both at the individual (micro) level and at the level of local and regional communities (the meso level). The concept of an emigration region is illustrated by the example of the Opolskie Voivodeship (Poland, a NUTS-2 region). The concept of an emigration region emerged as a result of many years of research by the authors, implemented mainly in the Opolskie Voivodeship. The research methods were diverse (including quantitative and qualitative social research) and the research was conducted among the entities involved to varying degrees in broadly understood migration processes (emigrants, re-emigrants, regional and local governments, entrepreneurs).

Keywords

• migration outflow
• emigration region
• regional development