For a comprehensive understanding of the changing and complex migration patterns in Europe, both quantitative and qualitative analyseis are needed. In this paper we complement the studies on migration patterns of East-West migration by qualitatively analysing Estonian migration to Finland. The aim of the paper is to analyse the migration histories of Estonian migrants in Finland with a focus on the meaning and consequences of these patterns on an individual level but also on the effect of geographical proximity on migration patterns. The results bring forth the individual level gains and losses of migration and show that geographical proximity between the home and host country is conducive to more incomplete migration patterns. Our results also suggest that incomplete migration may have a positive effect for the home country as migrants continue to be consumers in their home country and relieve the pressure on its social system.
Anniste, Kristi, Tiit Tammaru, Enel Pungas, and Tiiu Paas (2012) “Dynamics of educational differences in emigration from Estonia to the Old EU member states”. Trames 16, 1, 219–235.
https://doi.org/10.3176/tr.2012.3.02
Anniste, Kristi and Tiit Tammaru (2014) “Ethnic differences in integration levels and return migration intentions: a study of Estonian migrants in Finland”. Demographic Research 30, 13, 377–412.
https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2014.30.13
Bartram, David (2010) “International migration, open borders debates, and happiness”. International Studies Review 12, 339–361.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2486.2010.00942.x
Braun, Virginia and Victoria Clarke (2006) “Using thematic analysis in psychology”. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3, 2, 77–101.
https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Düvell, Franck and Michael Garapich (2011) Polish migration to the UK: continuities and discontinuities. (Working Paper, 84.) Oxford: University of Oxford, Centre on Migration, Policy and Society.
Düvell, Franck and Dita Vogel (2006) “Polish migrants: tensions between sociological typologies and state categories”. In Anna Triandafyllidou, ed. Contemporary Polish migration in Europe: complex patterns of movement and settlement, 267–89. Lewiston and New York: Edwin Mellen Press.
Engbersen, Godfried, Arjen Leerkes, Izabela Grabowska-Lusinska, Erik Snel, and Jack Burgers (2013) “On the differential attachments of migrants from central and eastern Europe: a typology of labour migration”. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 39, 6, 959–981.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2013.765663
Engbersen, Godfried, Erik Snel, and Jan de Boom (2010) “‘A van full of Poles’: liquid migration from central and eastern Europe”. In Richard Black, Godfried Engbersen, Marek Okólski, and Cristina Panţîru, eds. A continent moving west? EU enlargement and labour migration from central and eastern Europe, 141–164, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Favell, Adrian (2008) “The new face of east-west migration in Europe”. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 34, 5, 701–16.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830802105947
Fihel, Agnieszka, Pawel Kaczmarczyk, and Marek Okólski (2006) Labour mobility in the enlarged EU: international migration from the EU8 countries. (CMR Working Papers,14/72), Warsaw: University of Warsaw, Centre of Migration Research.
Gall, M.D., Walter R. Borg, and Joyce P. Gall (1996) Educational research. 6th ed. White Plains, NY: Longman Publishers USA.
Glick Schiller, Nina (1997) “The situation of transnational studies”. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power 4, 2, 155–166.
Glick Schiller, Nina (1999) “Transmigrants and nation-states: something old and something new in the US immigrant experience”. In Charles Hirschman, Philip Kasinitz and Joshua DeWind, eds. The handbook of international migration; the American experience, 94–119, New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Glick Schiller, Nina, Linda Basch, and Cristina Blanc-Szanton (1992) “Towards a definition of transnationalism”. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 645, ix-xiv.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1992.tb33482.x
Guarnizo, Luis Eduardo (1998) “The rise of transnational social formations: Mexican and Dominican State responses to transnational migration”. Political Power and Social Theory 2, 45–94.
Guest, Greg, Arwen Bunce, and Laura Johnson (2006) “How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability”. Field Methods 18, 1, 59–82.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X05279903
Haug, Sonja (2008) “Migration networks and migration decision-making”. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 34, 4, 585–605.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830801961605
Hooghe, Marc, Ann Trappers, Bart Meuleman, and Tim Reeskens (2008) “Migration to European countries: a structural explanation of patterns, 1980–2004”. International Migration Review 42, 2, 476–504.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2008.00132.x
Horst, Heather A. (2006) “The blessing and burdens of communication: cell phones in Jamaican transnational fields”. Global Networks 6, 2, 143–159.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0374.2006.00138.x
Jordan, Bill and Franck Düvell (2003) Migration: the boundaries of equality and justice. Cambridge: Polity.
Kaska, Mart and Tiiu Paas (2013) Cross-border labour flows from Estonia to neighbouring countries. (Working Paper, 91-2013.) Tartu: University of Tartu, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
King, Russell (2002) “Towards a new map of european migration”. International Journal of Population Geography 8, 89–106.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ijpg.246
Krings, Torben, Alicja Bobek, Elaine Moriarty, Justyna Salamoska, and James Wickham (2013) “Polish migration to Ireland: ‘free movers’ in the new European mobility space”. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 39, 1, 87–103.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2012.723250
Levitt, Peggy (2001) “Transnational migration: taking stock and future directions”. Global Networks 1, 3, 195–216.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-0374.00013
Massey, Douglas S. and J. Edward Taylor (2004) “Introduction”. In Douglas S. Massey and J. Edward Taylor, eds. International migration: prospects and policies in a global market,
1–14, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
MKW Wirtschaftsforschung, Empirica KFT (2009) Scientific report on the mobility of cross-border workers within the EU-27/EEA/EFTA countries. Final report.
Morokvasic, Mirjana (2004) “Settled in mobility: engendering post-wall migration in Europe”. Feminist Review 77, 7–25.
https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.fr.9400154
Morse, Janice M. (1994) “Designing Funded Qualitative Research”. In Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln, eds. Handbook for qualitative research, 220–235, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Okólski, Marek (2001) “Incomplete migration: a new form of mobility in central and eastern Europe”. In Claire Wallace and Dariusz Stola, eds. Patterns of migration in central Europe, 105–128, London: Palgrave.
Paas, Tiiu and Mart Kaska (2015) “Cross-border labor mobility: do east-west and east-east labor flows differ?”. Journal of Global Policy and Governance 4, 141–164.
Patton, Michael Quinn (1990) Qualitative evaluation and research methods. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Statistics Estonia, Database. Available online at <http://www.stat.ee/sab-uuendus?db_update_id= 12490>. Accessed on 27.12.2015.
Statistics Finland, Database. Available online at <http://pxweb2.stat.fi/database/StatFin/ databasetree_en.asp>. Accessed on 27.12.2015.
Tammaru, Tiit, Kaja Kumer-Haukanõmm, and Kristi Anniste (2010) “The formation and development of the Estonian diaspora”. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 36, 7, 1157–1174.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2010.481614
Tsuda, Takeyuki (2012) “Whatever happened to simultaneity? Transnational migration theory and dual engagement in sending and receiving countries”. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 38, 4, 631–649.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2012.659126
https://doi.org/10.1080/09668130802362227
