Why Central Americans Emigrate? Patterns and Gaps Within Academic Research

Abstract

Despite extensive debate and speculation surrounding the recent rise in emigration from Central American countries, the underlying drivers of this migration remain largely unexplored in the academic literature. This research note seeks to spark academic discussion by analysing the patterns and gaps in the existing literature on the drivers of migration from the region, with the goal of re-centering the debate on evidence-based scientific research. The results identify four key areas for discussion. First, much of the existing literature treats Central America as a single region, rather than accounting for substantial variation across individual countries and subnational regions. Second, the research disproportionately focuses on criminality and gang violence as a driver of emigration, leaving other drivers largely understudied. Third, existing research predominantly relies on country-level analyses, obscuring important subnational and local variations. Finally, research on migration drivers is dominated by Anglo-Saxon universities, with limited collaboration involving Central American institutions. Addressing these gaps can be a first step towards producing a more comprehensive understanding of the region's emigration patterns and to counter the dominance of rhetoric and misinformation with rigorous, evidence-based research.