Preliminary evidence on internal migration, remittances, and teen schooling in India:

"Migration can serve as an outlet for employment, higher earnings, and reduced income risk for households in developing countries. We use the 2004–2005 Human Development Profile of India survey to examine correlations between the receipt of remittances from internal migrants and human capital investment in rural areas. We employ a propensity score–matching approach to account for the selectivity of households into receiving remittances. We interpret the results conservatively due to the cross-sectional nature of the data. We find a positive correlation between remittances received from internal migrants and the schooling attendance of teens. The magnitude of the correlation is greater when focusing on low-caste households, and male schooling attendance in particular becomes more positive and statistically significant. Our findings provide a basis for establishing future research in the areas of migration and social protection in India." from authors' abstractMigration, Transfers, Human capital, Labor supply, Urban-rural linkages, Nonfarm rural development, Development strategies,

Short- and long-term effects of the 1998 Bangladesh flood on rural wages

Natural disasters have particularly devastating impacts on economic growth in developing countries because they impede the accumulation of capital. The resilience of labor markets is crucial especially for the poor who rely only on labor to diversify their income portfolio and buffer against risk. Such a risk management strategy may become more challenging as global climate change increases the frequency of natural disasters. We use the Bangladesh Flood Impact panel household survey to evaluate how the 1998 “flood of the century” affected wages in Bangladesh. We find long-term declines in wages where nonagricultural labor markets are more severely affected. We also evaluate how soil quality and proximity to auxiliary labor markets cushion labor markets against the disaster. The most compelling evidence shows that workers in areas further from centers of economic activity are more vulnerable to flood-induced wage losses. Our findings suggest that future emergency relief and climate change programs should consider the protection of labor markets by improving infrastructure to facilitate job searches in alternative locations or reduce migration costs.accumulation of capital, Climate change, Disasters, economic growth, flood, labor markets, migration costs, Risk management, Soil quality, Wages,

Do Limitations in Land Rights Transferability Influence Low Mobility Rates in Ethiopia?

Migration is considered a pathway out of poverty for many rural households in developing countries. National policies can discourage households from exploiting external employment opportunities through the distortion of capital markets. Studies in China show that the presence of state and collectively owned land creates inefficiencies in the labor market. We examine the extent restrictions on land rights impede mobility in Ethiopia, having the lowest urbanization rate in sub-Saharan Africa. The empirical estimates support a robust positive effect from increasing the transferability of land rights on migration. Our findings are suggestive that the nascent land certification and registration programs in regions of Ethiopia may potentially promote poverty reduction by increasing incentives to migrate.International Development, Labor and Human Capital, Land Economics/Use,

Migratory responses to agricultural risk in Northern Nigeria

We investigate the extent in which northern Nigerian households engage in internal migration to insure against ex ante and ex post agricultural risk due to weather-related variability and shocks. We use data on the migration patterns of individuals over a 20-year period and temperature degree-days to identify agricultural risk. Controlling for ex ante and ex post risk, we find that households with higher ex ante risk are more likely to send migrants. Households facing hot shocks before the migrant’s move tend to keep their male migrants in closer proximity. These findings suggest that households use migration as a risk management strategy in response to both ex ante and ex post risk, but that migration responses are gender-specific. These findings have implications not only for understanding the insurance motives of households, but also potential policy responses tied to climatic warming.Migration, Risk, temperature degree days,

Insurance motives to remit: Evidence from a matched sample of Ethiopian internal migrants

Migration and remittances can be used by rural households as a means of insurance, investment, and income augmentation. Ample attention has been given to studying international remittance flows, since for many countries such transfers comprise a significant fraction of income. Remittance flows from internal migrants are relatively understudied, particularly in Africa, where remittance rates are poor. We use a unique matched migrant sample to study what drives the low remittance rates in Ethiopia. Descriptive statistics suggest remitters are positively selected in terms of wealth characteristics compared with the average tracked migrant. Limited skill transferability and liquidity largely explain low remittance rates in Ethiopia. Weaker evidence suggests migrants are additionally motivated to remit as a form of self-insurance against own shocks to income and investments towards future inheritable assets.Insurance, Migration, Remittances,

Simultaneous Estimation of Hedonic Equations with Unbalanced Data

Hedonic non-market valuation often requires estimating housing and labor market regressions. The authors show how to accommodate unbalanced data in hedonic regressions. In addition to efficiency gains, the method allows consistent estimation of confidence intervals for amenity values. The paper illustrates by estimating the implicit price of a temperature increase in urban Brazil

Climate variability and inter-provincial migration in South America, 1970–2011

We examine the effect of climate variability on human migration in South America. Our analyses draw on over 21 million observations of adults aged 15-40 from 25 censuses conducted in eight South American countries. Addressing limitations associated with methodological diversity among prior studies, we apply a common analytic approach and uniform definitions of migration and climate across all countries. We estimate the effects of climate variability on migration overall and also investigate heterogeneity across sex, age, and socioeconomic groups, across countries, and across historical climate conditions. We also disaggregate migration by the rural/urban status of destination. We find that exposure to monthly temperature shocks has the most consistent effects on migration relative to monthly rainfall shocks and gradual changes in climate over multi-year periods. We also find evidence of heterogeneity across demographic groups and countries. Analyses that disaggregate migration by the rural/urban status of destination suggest that much of the climate-related inter-province migration is directed toward urban areas. Overall, our results underscore the complexity of environment-migration linkages and challenge simplistic narratives that envision a linear and monolithic migratory response to changing climates

Potential utility of renal functional reserve testing in clinical nephrology

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The aim of this review is to discuss the concept of renal functional reserve (RFR) and its potential relevance in clinical practice. RECENT FINDINGS: The RFR is a measure of the change in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) from baseline to a peak value when the kidney is stimulated to increase its function. This concept has a strong physiologic basis in nephrology and the presence, magnitude or absence of RFR capacity may have prognostic significance in many clinical scenarios where individuals are at risk of hyperfiltration or kidney dysfunction. Unlike in other medical specialties, where organ reserve function is reliably measurable and used routinely, measurement of RFR in nephrology has not been integrated into clinical care. Methodologic challenges including standardization of methods to stimulate GFR and the ability of measures of GFR to discriminate acute dynamic changes in GFR upon kidney stimulation have hampered the robustness and use of RFR measurements in research and clinical care. SUMMARY: Given the emergence of many new disease-modifying therapies in nephrology, it is imperative that we move forward and develop more robust tools to further our understanding of kidney physiology and pathophysiology, such as the RFR, which should be integrated into research and clinical care to support optimal personalization of therapeutic kidney care strategies

Environmental migration and labor markets in Nepal

While an emerging literature cites weather shocks as migration determinants, scant evidence exists on how such migration affects the markets of receiving communities in developing countries. We address this knowledge gap by investigating the impact of weather-driven internal migration on labor markets in Nepal. An increase of 1 percentage point in net migration reduces wages in the formal sector by 5.7%. A similar change in migration augments unemployment by 1 percentage point. The unskilled bear greater consequences. Understanding entrepreneurial constraints and drivers of labor market exits will inform pathways to resilience

Environmental migration and labor markets in Nepal

While an emerging literature cites weather shocks as migration determinants, scant evidence exists on how such migration impacts the markets of receiving communities in developing countries. We address this knowledge gap by investigating the impact of weather-driven internal migration on labor markets in Nepal. An increase of 1 percentage point in net migration reduces wages in the formal sector by 4.8 percentage points. The absence of wage effects in the informal sector is consistent with the exit of low-skilled native workers from the labor market. Understanding entrepreneurial constraints and drivers of labor market exits will inform pathways to resilience