The Role of Networks in International Labour Migration: The Case of Returned Migrants in East Java

This study examines the role of social networks in the overseas migration decisions of workers from East Java, Indonesia. The data for this study are obtained from a survey of 363 respondents in Sumberejo village, located in Malang district in East Java. This district is well known as one of the main contributors of Indonesian labour migrants to overseas. Using a multinomial logit specification across different labour market outcomes, this study finds that labour recruiters or middlemen play the most important role in labour migrants’ decisions to work overseas, although middlemen are in fact are not allowed by regulation. The number of friends and relatives respondents feel close to is also a significant factor, but not as high as middlemen. Relatives have a positive and significant effect for the respondents who worked in the formal sector, while friends have a significantly positive effect for the respondents who worked in the informal sector.JEL: J61