Rent, emigration and unemployment in small islands: The MIRAB model and the French overseas departments and territories

Many small island economies depend heavily on rents coming from the outside: international aid from foreign or metropolitan governments, remittances from emigrants, or fishing rights. Some small islands have massive emigration and almost no unemployment, while others have no emigration (or even immigration), sometimes with high unemployment. The four-sector economic model proposed here tries to explain such differences in migration behavior and unemployment rates, for islands with unlimited legal emigration outlets.