How Berlin attracts the Turkish "new wave" : comparison of economic and socio-cultural pull factors for highly skilled immigrants

This paper investigates the impact of economic and socio-cultural pull factors on migration decisions of graduate students and highly skilled professionals with a specific focus on recent highly skilled Turkish immigration in Berlin. The main hypotheses of this study are that economic factors play a significantly more important role in the migration decisions of highly skilled professionals whereas socio-cultural factors have a significantly more impact on graduate student migration. The data are collected through an online survey and analyzed in the light of previous literature on highly skilled immigration. Compatible with the results of earlier studies, the findings reveal significant differentiation in the effect of economic pull factors on highly skilled professionals compared to graduate students, especially in the domains career opportunities, employment opportunities and expectations for a higher quality of life. Sociocultural pull factors appear to have insignificant difference despite being favored more by immigrants who moved to Berlin through an educational channel. Altogether, these results indicate the importance of diversified migration policies for the distinct needs of different highly skilled groups.