established in certain destination countries as a result of historic ties, will
often lead to the growth of migrant networks that may foster future
migration flows. Such networks are sets of interpersonal ties between
earlier migrants already resident in a destination country and potential
migrants in countries of origin that are based on family ties, friendships or
shared community origin. Such ties can significantly reduce the costs and
risks of migration, thus channelling migration flows in the direction of
earlier migration flows. By passing on information about access to a
particular country and its employment opportunities, they constitute a
form of social capital (Hugo, 1981; Taylor, 1986). Once migration
connections have been established, the presence of relatives, friends,
and/or others from the same community of origin may form a strong
incentive to choose a particular destination. Migration may thus be seen
as a self-sustaining diffusion process (Massey et al. 1993), which
governments will find difficult to control.
Following the same line of reasoning we could also expect a certain degree
of path-dependency from one period of migration to the next. Such a
process is likely to be the result of two dynamics. First, there will be a
reduction of costs and risks for migrants as they can rely on the support of
personal networks. Second, there will be certain persistence of existing
migration routes and patterns, as agents and traffickers will have
incurred sunk costs by investing in the creation of networks which they
will be reluctant to give up (Pierson 2000).
Political Values ('Liberalness')
Concerns about personal security and their acceptance into a new host
society can be expected to be important considerations for potential
migrants, in particular forced migrants who are leaving their country of
origin because of concerns about their, or their family's, safety. The
reputation of a country in terms of its 'liberal credentials' as well as its
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