On the political economy of urbanization: experimental evidence from Mozambique

Alex Armand, Frederica Mendonca, Wayne Aaron Sandholtz and Pedro C. Vicente

Nova SBE Working Paper Series from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics

Abstract: Urbanization is a force for structural change. However, it has been slow in Sub-Saharan Africa, possibly due to conflicting political interests of national incumbents. We study the political impacts of a randomized program integrating rural migrants in a Mozambican city with the participation of local leaders. We find that the program increases the mobilization of local leaders, who conduct more electoral campaigning. We observe migrants to be more politically active and more supportive of the city incumbent (national opposition). Migrants’ contacts at the origin align with the national opposition and migrate to the city. We conclude that urbanization is political..

Keywords: Political economy; Urbanization; Rural migrants; Migrant integration; Political behavior; Mozambique; Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 J61 O12 O18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 102 pages
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:unl:unlfep:wp670

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