What explains surges in migration? Dominant theories emphasize conditions of violence or poverty in sending countries. However, these factors alone are unable to explain sudden migration waves. Sharp spikes in migration, like the current refugee crisis in Europe or last summer’s flow of Central American children across the U.S. border, contrast with often long-standing problems of violence and poverty. Moreover, migrants from nonviolent regions are attracted to join these flows when violence spikes elsewhere.

This project seeks to advance our understanding of migration by explaining the onset of waves, as well as the informational or social dynamics that magnify and perpetuate a migration wave once it emerges, through a new survey of Syrian refugees and other migrants in Jordan, Turkey, and Greece.