What Matters in Migrants’ Decision-Making? Insights from the Migration Journeys along Africa and Europe

In this paper, we address the factors that influence the decision-making process of Nigerian migrants along their migrant journeys, whether at origin or in transit localities within the African-European space. We explore how the journey shapes migration decision-making and aspirations to migrate, stay and return. As we analyze the influence of macro-, meso- and micro-level drivers along the migration experience, we also examine how migrants exercise their agency, transforming aspirations to migrate, stay or return into actions through capabilities. This involves the mobilization of different forms of capital within their individual subjective space across new spaces of potential opportunity and constraint.
This study highlights that macro-level factors (e.g., social transformation) and migrants' perceptions of these factors (e.g., economic fluctuations, levels of violence, and quality of governance) significantly influence the decision-making processes before departure in Nigeria. Consistent with previous research findings, we find that class is associated with an individual's ability to access the capital required for migration via shorter, safer routes (e.g., visas and direct travel to Europe), or longer, more dangerous routes (e.g., undocumented travel through various African countries). However, as the journey progresses, macro-level factors become less significant relative to meso-level factors (culture of migration, transnational intermediaries, etc.) and micro-level factors (personal resources, migration experiences, etc.), which increasingly influence individual decision-making. This occurs because, during the migration process, immediate needs become a predominant concern within more constricted spaces of action. Once in Europe, we observe a rebalancing of the influence of meso- and macro-level drivers (such as migration policies) on decision-making. Moreover, we find that migrants from different social backgrounds face similar challenges regarding their capability to settle and participate fully in social life.