Media exposure and internal migration — Evidence from Indonesia

Lidia Farre and Francesco Fasani

Journal of Development Economics, 2013, vol. 102, issue C, 48-61

Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of television on internal migration in Indonesia. We exploit the differential introduction of private television throughout the country and the variation in signal reception due to topography to estimate the causal effect of media exposure. Our estimates reveal important long and short run effects. An increase of one standard deviation in the number of private TV channels received in the area of residence as an adolescent reduces future inter-provincial migration by 1.7–2.7 percentage points, and all migration (inter and intra-provincial) by 3.9–6.8 percentage points. Short run effects are similar in magnitude. We also show that respondents less exposed to private television are more likely to consider themselves among the poorest groups in society. As we discuss in a stylized model of migration choice under imperfect information, these findings are consistent with Indonesian citizens over-estimating the net gains from internal migration when access to television is limited.

Keywords: Information; Migration decisions; Television (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J61 L82 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (39)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Media Exposure and Internal Migration -Evidence from Indonesia (2011)
Working Paper: Media Exposure and Internal Migration - Evidence from Indonesia (2011)
Working Paper: Media Exposure and Internal Migration: Evidence from Indonesia (2011)
Working Paper: Media Exposure and Internal Migration - Evidence from Indonesia
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:102:y:2013:i:c:p:48-61

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2012.11.001

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