Socio-economic inequality as a factor of formation of migration flows

In the rapidly changing conditions the globalized world has experienced increasing complexity of migration processes. Any changes in these processes can have both negative and positive impact on the host territory either almost immediately or in the long term. The article, based on a comparative analysis of various theoretical views on the emergence of migrations, presents results of the study of the socio-economic inequality factors determining intensification of migration flows in the CIS countries and regions of Russia. On the basis of identification of the attraction and expulsion factors and the reasons for migration according to I. Wallerstein, the authors analyzed both external and internal migration that allowed them to get a clear picture of migration processes in the post-Soviet space. The obtained results made it possible to conclude that social inequality factors determine the processes of expulsion and attraction not only in external migration but also in internal. At the same time Russia, which has become the center of attraction mainly for low skilled migrant workers, is itself a donor of qualified personnel for advanced economies. In addition, the internal migration processes in the territory of Russia, due to serious regional disparities in the level of socio-economic development, have become a factor of growing uneven distribution of the population across the country, leading to a reduction in people's access to public goods both in densely and sparsely populated regions of the country. In the absence of the regulating impact of the state on migration flows, this situation in the future will only increase the spatial inequality in the levels and quality of life.