Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Politics Or Economics? International Migration During The Nicaraguan Contra War, Jennifer H. Lundquist, Douglas Massey

Dr. Jennifer H. Lundquist

The issue of whether Central Americans in the United States are ‘ political ’ or ‘economic’ migrants has been widely debated, yet little empirical research has informed the controversy. Earlier studies have relied primarily on cross-sectional aggregate data. In order to overcome these limitations we draw on recent surveys conducted in five Nicaraguan communities by the Latin American Migration Project. Using retrospective data, we reconstruct a history of a family’s migration to the United States and Costa Rica from the date of household formation to the survey date and link these data to national-level data on GDP and Contra War …