Migration and Technological Change in Rural Households: Complements or Substitutes?

In this paper we study the interrelationship between determinants of migration, conceived as a family strategy, and the potential impact of having a migrant household member on people left behind. Labour migration is often related to poverty but given its lumpy-investment nature, poverty may constitute a motivation to migrate as well as a constraint to do it. We use cross-sectional household data from two rural regions of Bangladesh to test whether migration is a form of income diversification strategy that significantly influences the risk-taking behaviour of source farm households in agricultural activities. We account for heterogeneity of migration constraints differentiating between domestic (temporary and permanent) and international moving destinations. We find that richer and large-holder households are more likely to participate in costly high-return migration (i.e. international migration) and employ modern technologies, thereby achieving higher productivity. Poorer households, on the other hand, are not able to overcome entry costs of moving abroad and fall back on migration with low entry costs, and low returns (i.e. domestic migration), which does not help them to achieve production enhancements and may lock them into persistent poverty. We interpret our results as evidence that if migration is a profitable household activity, entry constraints may hinder the access to it and its effectiveness as income diversification strategy.

Agricultural Technology and Povertry Reduction: A Micro-Level Analysis of Causal Effects

Agricultural technology opens great opportunities of increasing food grain production in land scarce countries. But questions are raised about the potential adverse or favourable impact of new technology on economic conditions of the poor. This study is aimed at contributing to the debate about the relative importance of ‘direct’ and ‘indirect effects’ of agricultural technology adoption within poverty alleviation strategies. It does so through an empirical investigation of the relationship between technological change, of the Green Revolution type, and wellbeing of smallholder farm households in two rural Bangladeshi regions. The paper assesses the “causal effect” of technological change on farm-households’ income through parametric and nonparametric estimates. In particular, it pursues a targeted evaluation of whether adopting new technology causes poor-resource farmers to improve their income through the ‘matching analysis’. It finds a robust and positive effect of agricultural technology adoption on farm households’ wellbeing suggesting that there is a large scope for enhancing the role of agricultural technology in directly contributing to poverty alleviation.Farm household behaviour, Technology adoption, Poverty alleviation, Propensity score matching

Social Determinants of Labor Market Status of Ethnic Minorities in Britain

The labor market behavior of ethnic communities in advanced societies and the social determinants of labor market outcomes of minority groups are important empirical issues with significant policy consequences. We use detailed micro-data on multiple-origin ethnic minorities in England and Wales to investigate the way different network-based social ties influence individual employment outcomes. We find that the core family structure and contacts with parents and children away (in Britain) increases the probability of self-employment. On the other hand, engagement in organizational social networks is more likely to channel people from ethnic minorities into paid employment. Finally, disaggregating different types of social networks along their compositional characteristics, we find that having ethnic friends is positively associated with the likelihood to be self-employed while integration in mixed or non-ethnic social networks facilitates paid employment among minority individuals. These findings hint at a positive role of social integration on employment opportunities of ethnic communities in host societies.labor market, self-employment, ethnic minorities, social ties

Parental Health and Child Schooling

Evidence on the role of parental health on child schooling is surprisingly thin. We explore this issue by estimating the short-run effects of parents’ illness on child school enrollment. Our analysis is based on household panel data from Bosnia-Herzegovina, a country whose health and educational systems underwent extensive destruction during the 1992-1995 war. Using child fixed effects to correct for potential endogeneity bias, we find that – contrary to the common wisdom that shocks to the primary household earner should have more negative consequences for child education – it is especially maternal health that makes a difference as far as child schooling is concerned. Children whose mothers self-reported having poor health are about 7 percentage points less likely to be enrolled in education at ages 15-24. These results are robust to considering alternative indicators of parental health status such as the presence of limitations in the activities of daily living and depression symptoms. Moreover, we find that mothers’ health shocks have more negative consequences on younger children and sons.Bosnia and Herzegovina, children, education, parents, school, self-reported health

International migration and gender differentials in the home labor market : evidence from Albania

This paper examines the role of male-dominated international migration in shaping labor market outcomes by gender in migrant-sending households in Albania. Using detailed information on family migration experience from the latest Living Standards Measurement Study survey, the authors find that male and female labor supplies respond differently to the current and past migration episodes of household members. Controlling for the potential endogeneity of migration and for the income (remittances) effect, the estimates show that having a migrant abroad decreases female paid labor supply and increases unpaid work. However, women with past family migration experience are significantly more likely to engage in self-employment and less likely to supply unpaid work. The same relationships do not hold for men. These findings suggest that over time male-dominated Albanian migration may lead to women's empowerment in access to income-earning opportunities at the origin.Labor Markets,Population Policies,Labor Policies,Access to Finance,Gender and Development

How does migration affect child labor in sending countries?

International labor mobility has resulted in sweeping socio-economic changes in many developing countries. When a family member migrates for work and sends back remittances, household income may rise, and with it investment in children’s schooling. Emigration flows may also alter local labor market conditions and wage rates, which can in turn affect children’s labor supply. Whether there is more or less child labor as a result of migration may depend on the skill composition of the migrants and on how family members respond to wage changes

Parental Health and Child Schooling

Evidence on the role of parental health on child schooling is surprisingly thin. We explore this issue by estimating the short-run effects of parents\' illness on child school enrollment. Our analysis is based on household panel data from Bosnia-Herzegovina, a country whose health and educational systems underwent extensive destruction during the 1992-1995 war. Using child fixed effects to correct for potential endogeneity bias, we find that — contrary to the common wisdom that shocks to the primary household earner should have more negative consequences for child education — it is especially maternal health that makes a difference as far as child schooling is concerned. Children whose mothers self-reported having poor health are about 7 percentage points less likely to be enrolled in education at ages 15-24. These results are robust to considering alternative indicators of parental health status such as the presence of limitations in the activities of daily living and depres-sion symptoms. Moreover, we find that mothers\' health shocks have more negative consequences on younger children and sons.Bosnia and Herzegovina, children, education, parents, school, self-reported

International Migration and Gender Differentials in the Home Labor Market: Evidence from Albania

This paper examines the role of male-dominated international migration in shaping labor market outcomes by gender in migrant-sending households in Albania. Using detailed information on family migration experience from the latest Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) survey, we find that male and female labor supplies respond differently to current and past migration episodes of household members. Controlling for the potential endogeneity of migration and for the income (remittances) effect, estimates show that having a migrant abroad decreases female paid labor supply while increasing unpaid work. On the other hand, women with past family migration experience are significantly more likely to engage in self-employment and less likely to supply unpaid work. The same relationships do not hold for men. These findings suggest that over time male-dominated Albanian migration may lead to women’s empowerment in the access to income-earning opportunities at origin.International Migration, Gender, Labor supply, Albania

International migration and gender differentials in the home labor market: evidence from Albania

This paper examines the role of male-dominated international migration in shaping labor market outcomes by gender in migrant-sending households in Albania. Using detailed information on family migration experience from the latest Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) survey, we find that male and female labor supplies respond differently to current and past migration episodes of household members. Controlling for the potential endogeneity of migration and for the income (remittances) effect, estimates show that having a migrant abroad decreases female paid labor supply while increasing unpaid work. On the other hand, women with household members with past migration experience are significantly more likely to engage in self-employment and less likely to supply unpaid work. The same relationships do not hold for men. These findings suggest that over time male-dominated Albanian migration may lead to women’s empowerment in the access to income-earning opportunities at origin.

Social Determinants of Labor Market Status of Ethnic Minorities in Britain

The labor market behavior of ethnic communities in advanced societies and the social determinants of labor market outcomes of minority groups are important empirical issues with significant policy consequences. We use detailed micro-data on multiple-origin ethnic minorities in England and Wales to investigate the way different network-based social ties influence individual employment outcomes. We find that the core family structure and contacts with parents and children away (in Britain) increases the probability of self-employment. On the other hand, engagement in organizational social networks is more likely to channel people from ethnic minorities into paid employment. Finally, disaggregating different types of social networks along their compositional characteristics, we find that having ethnic friends is positively associated with the likelihood to be self-employed while integration in mixed or non-ethnic social networks facilitates paid employment among minority individuals. These findings hint at a positive role of social integration on employment opportunities of ethnic communities in host societies.labor market, self-employment, ethnic minorities, social ties