• ITALY
• NIGERIA
• ASPIRATION-CAPABILITY FRAMEWORK
• MIGRATION
• SOCIOECONOMICS

The number of international migrants has been rising since the last decade. However, a predominant number of people are non-migrants. The increasing migration flows nevertheless have attracted the interest of the research community. Currently, there is a vast literature on the trend, drivers, and developmental impacts of international migration. In this dissertation, I argue that there is also a need to study why some people migrate, and others do not migrate and why some migrants contribute to their households’ welfare while others do not. These additional questions can be addressed by researching the socioeconomics of migration decisions and outcomes of a specific group of people before and after migration. The neoclassical migration theories upon which previous research is based may be inadequate to undertake this comprehensive investigation. Hence, I adopted a novel capability-based migration framework and addressed three research questions. 1) how do capabilities influence migration decisions; 2) what are the capability-depriving constraints faced by migrants in the host countries, and 3) how do migrants contribute to capability improvement in their home countries? I explored Nigeria to Italy migration corridor and collected data from Nigerians before migration and after migration to Italy. A mixed-method approach was adopted in the research, including systematic review, secondary data analysis and, qualitative and quantitative analyses of primary data.

The dissertation is divided into eight chapters. A summary of the chapters is as follows.
Chapter 1 critically reviewed the neoclassical migration theories and conceptualizes the aspiration-capability framework as a prospect in migration theory. Chapter 2 used the capability-based migration framework to explain mobility and immobility decisions. Chapter 3 investigates how the possession of insufficient capabilities may lead to wrong migration decisions. Chapter 4 demonstrates how to enhance access to information capabilities using a formal source of information - information campaigns. Chapter 5 examines the integration experience and well-being of Nigerian asylum seekers in Italy. Chapter 6 investigate the contributions of international migrants to rural development in developing countries. Chapter 7 focuses on the impact of international migration on food security in Nigeria.

Generally, the dissertation is unique and timely. It brings knowledge on the complete migration trajectory of a particular group, looking at the decision stage, the movement, the arrival, and the contribution. These holistic analyses of migration dynamics have lacked in migration literature. The thesis also provides a relevant methodological contribution since, at the moment, there is not yet a well-established methodology to describe a holistic migration-experience for a group of migrants or procedure for data collection of such cases. The critical contribution of this dissertation in migration literature is recognizing that migrants have human agency and capabilities. I argue that migrants should not be seen as economic tools but as human beings who desire to contribute to their families’ well-being. Hence, they need to be accorded fundamental human rights, empathy, and protection. This dissertation maintains that migrants’ achievements and contributions can be explained through the lens of expectations, constraints, and integration realities in host countries.