The willingness to emigrate in six MENA countries: The role of post‐revolutionary stress

Abstract

This paper studies the determinants of emigration from six Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries in light of the Arab Spring of 2011. The aim is to determine if the economically unfortunate events which occurred as a result of the Arab Spring, resulted in a brain drain for many countries. The paper's analysis is conducted using the Arab Transformation Project dataset of the year 2014 by employing an ordered probit model. The paper's main conclusion is that sentiments of unhappiness appear to be the primary determinant of the willingness to emigrate. Other post‐revolutionary feelings include lack of trust and political and democratic discontent, which highly encourage the willingness to emigrate. In addition, socio‐economic factors, such as being young, male, and highly educated, contribute to the willingness to emigrate. However, married individuals are less likely to consider emigration.