Social Science Talk - A Tale of Two Explanations: The Relative Importance of Family Composition and Individual Background in Understanding Migration Intentions among East Asian Families
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[Zheming Cao and Eric Fong (presented by Eric Fong)]
The diaspora of East Asian families is well documented in the social science literature. There are two primary bodies of research that can help understand their migration intentions. The first focuses on family composition, largely rooted in the understanding of East Asian Confucian familism cultural values that emphasize filial piety and family lineage. The second draws from conventional migration literature, emphasizing individual human capital and social networks. However, despite the substantial volume of migration from East Asia to other parts of the world and within the region, there is a notable lack of research examining how these two sets of factors relate to migration intention patterns in East Asia. This research gap is surprising, given the large flow of East Asian migrants to major immigrant-receiving countries. Our study aims to bridge this gap by evaluating these two perspectives on migration, family and individual factors, regarding migrant intentions among East Asian societies, particularly those in Hong Kong. Using data from the 2025 Hong Kong General Social Survey, our findings suggest that individual background characteristics, including human capital and overseas social networks, are significantly related to migration intentions. In contrast, family composition does not show a significant relationship. These results imply that migration decisions among East Asian families are primarily shaped by individual assessments of their ability to adapt to a new society, rather than by traditional cultural impulses such as filial piety and family lineage. Implications of the findings are discussed.
Eric Fong joined the University of Hong Kong in 2020 from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he served as chair of the Department of Sociology and the inaugural Director of the Research Centre on Migration and Mobility. Prior to returning to Hong Kong in 2016, Fong had been a professor of sociology at the University of Toronto for more than 20 years. He was also Changjiang Chair Professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University.
Fong formerly served as President of the Canadian Population Society and the North America Chinese Sociologist Association, as well as Chair of the International Migration Section of the American Sociological Association. Fong publishes widely on race and ethnic residential patterns and immigration. His latest book with Brent Berry, Immigration and the City, was published by Polity Press in 2017.
Host: Prof Dong ZHANG, Associate Professor, Division of Social Science, HKUST
Prof Yifan SHEN, Assistant Professor, Division of Social Science, HKUST