Hong Kong’s new wave of migration: socio-political factors of individuals’ intention to emigrate

Comparative Migration Studies

Original Article

Man Yee Karen Lee¹  Mathew Y. H. Wong²  Eric King-man Chong²  Lewis T. O. Cheung²  Anita Kit Wa Chan² 

[1] La Trobe Law School, La Trobe University, 3086, Melbourne, VIC, Australia;The Department of Social Sciences, The Education University of Hong Kong, Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, Hong Kong;

关键词: Migration;    Migration intention;    Mobility;    Sense of place;    Global citizenship;    Inequality;    Trust and confidence in the law and the legal system;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40878-022-00323-y

 received in 2022-08-04, accepted in 2022-11-22,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

With a recent surge in the outward movement of the population, a new wave of emigration has been suggested to have started in Hong Kong. It is speculated that recent socio-political changes in Hong Kong may have contributed to this phenomenon. Therefore, five socio-political variables—mobility, sense of place, trust and confidence in the law and the legal system, global citizenship, and perception of inequality—are employed in this study as proposed determinants to investigate the intention of Hong Kong residents to migrate to mainland China and to other international destinations. A random telephone questionnaire survey representative of the local population was conducted, with a total of 801 valid samples collected. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was carried out. The results showed that all five proposed socio-political variables successfully predicted people’s migration intention to mainland China and to foreign countries, with important variations between the two choices. Our results carry strong implications for understanding people’s concerns behind their intention to emigrate. Further, our findings present a challenge for Hong Kong; society may gradually be failing to accommodate individuals with diverse perceptions and values, particularly in terms of trust and confidence in the law and the legal system, and individuals’ sense of global citizenship.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2022