Can Motivation Theory Explain Migration Decisions?

According to Abraham Maslow's motivational theory, human action is motivated by five levels of human needs. The model introduced in this paper exploits Maslow's theory to explain migration flows between regions. In the model, movement from one region to another influences migrant utility in three ways: through change in wage owing to different regional wage levels, through changes in utility connected with a migrant's safety needs, and through disarrangement of a migrant's social network. When safety and social needs are added to the model, equilibria arise in which wage differentials between regions persist.