Journal of Identity and Migration Studies Volume 6, number 1, 2012 3 THEMATIC ARTICLES – CHALLENGES OF MIGRATION: WHO MIGRATES, WHY AND WITH WHAT EFFECTS? Socio-Economic Determinants of International Migration 1 Yaroslav PRYTULA, Nataliia POHORILA 2 Abstract. Since economic factors cannot fully explain the determinants of bilateral migration, this study explores the social and cultural determinants that influence an individual’s decision to migrate. Values, norms and interests in a given culture, may determine whether an individual’s intention to move translates into actual migration. Work values inherent in different cultures could explain why people move or do not move under the condition of perceived economic advantages of migration. A gravity type migration model is used to incorporate variables related both to economic indicators and work values. It is perhaps the first migration study to use the World Value Survey (WVS) and the European Value Survey (EVS). We use 2000 stock bilateral migration dataset collected by the World Bank. Our findings indicate that if more aspects of work are valued in a country, this country sends more migrants. Also we show that countries with higher extrinsic work value orientation tend to send more migrants, while countries with higher intrinsic work value orientation tend to send fewer migrants. Our finding shows that the value of work and the level of job security in a country may significantly change migration decision. Keywords: migration, gravity model, work related values 1. Introduction The traditional approach to explaining aggregate migration flows between two countries is based on Hicks hypothesis formulated in 1932, which stated that 1 The work on this article was supported by an individual grant № R08-0721 from the Economics Education and Research Consortium, Inc. (EERC), with funds provided by the Global Development Network 2 The authors would like to thank Tom Coupe, Yuriy Taran, Michael Alexeev, Shlomo Weber, James Leitzel, Roy Gardner, Loek Halman and the participants at the EERC seminars for their constructive comments, discussions and recommendations that helped to substantially improve this paper.