Migration Costs and Observational Returns to Migration in the Developing World

David Lagakos, Samuel Marshall, Ahmed Mobarak, Corey Vernot and Michael Waugh
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Samuel Marshall: University of Warwick
Corey Vernot: Yale University

The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) from University of Warwick, Department of Economics

Abstract: Recent studies find that observational returns to rural-urban migration are near zero in three developing countries. We revisit this result using panel tracking surveys from six countries, finding higher returns on average. We then interpret these returns in a multi-region Roy model with heterogeneity in migration costs. In the model, the observational return to migration confounds the urban premium and the individual benefits of migrants, and is not directly informative about the welfare gain from lowering migration costs. Patterns of regional heterogeneity in returns, and a comparison of experimental to observational returns, are consistent with the model’s predictions.

Keywords: rural-urban migration; observational returns to migration; migration costs; rural-urban gaps; gains from lowering migration costs JEL codes: O11; O18; R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-int, nep-ore and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (27)

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https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/w ... _1265_-_marshall.pdf

Related works:
Journal Article: Migration costs and observational returns to migration in the developing world (2020)
Working Paper: Migration Costs and Observational Returns to Migration in the Developing World (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wrk:warwec:1265

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