Barriers to Labor Migration for the Rural Poor

Abu Shonchoy (), Tomoki Fujii and Selim Raihan
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Abu Shonchoy: Florida International University and J-PAL
Tomoki Fujii: Singapore Management University
Selim Raihan: University of Dhaka

No 18912, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: Migration into stable urban manufacturing jobs offers large returns, yet rural-to-urban migration remains limited in developing countries. Using a field experiment in Bangladesh, we sequentially relax constraints on information, skills, liquidity, and migration risk for poor rural youth seeking jobs in the urban apparel sector. Information and training alone have limited effects. By contrast, combining training with a stipend, paid internship, and transition support increases migration, employment, and earnings, reduces poverty, and produces intra-household spillovers. We find that reducing job-search uncertainty and migration risk is central to labor-market entry, and skills-training programs may require complementary financing, migration assistance, and job-search support for scalable impacts.

Keywords: field experiment; internal migration; vocational training; internship; Bangladesh; apparel sector (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J61 O15 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-09
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18912

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