Migration, development and welfare: findings from a household survey in two selected villages in Bangladesh

Abstract

This paper contributes to the debate about the developmental impact of overseas migration using household level data from two selected villages in the southeastern region of Bangladesh. It argues in turn that remittances do contribute to household wealth accumulation but longer term investment in agriculture that can potentially lead to a change in agrarian structure is largely missing. An asset index is also employed to determine the welfare effects of both overseas and domestic migration. This paper begins with a discussion on theories of migration and how these have evolved to encompass new empirical features of the migration phenomenon. The survey results are then presented with an analysis of what this means for the nexus between migration and development within the specific context of Bangladesh.

Emigration, remittances and emerging family structure: findings from a household survey in eight selected villages in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India

“…Duration of stay at the destination also plays a significant role in sending the remittances. These optimistic view supported by Mahapatro (2016) who found that households with overseas migrants for a relatively long duration are in fact better off. Present study also shows that frequency of such migration has a positive impact on sending more remittances comparatively to the people who have lesser frequency.…”

Migration and Rural Differentiation: A Case Study of Two Selected Villages in Noakhali Region of Bangladesh

“…18 This reflects the relative returns from non-farm work in the area, and this may be another factor in explaining why land alienation is more prominent in Purbalach as compared with Hasanpur. In fact, in Purbalach, only overseas migrants of a longer duration could be differentiated among other households, which was not the case in Hasanpur (Mahapatro, 2016). However, this non-farm sector is highly differentiated, if we consider the lower quintile.…”

“…Based on the household surveys and through construction of the asset index, significant differences in wealth (based on asset scores) were found between households with overseas migrants and others in both of the surveyed villages (Mahapatro, 2016). 8 In Purbalach, households with long-standing migrants overseas had significantly higher wealth indices.…”

“…Whether migration contributes to petty commodity reproduction or forms the basis for new conditions of reproduction is largely dependent on the nature of migration and the returns generated, which, in turn, depend on the duration of migration and the location, a point discussed in Mahapatro (2016). The aspect of differentiated returns to non-farm work and, in particular, how rural households with greater landholdings are able to enter into higher-return non-farm work have been evidenced within the context of Bangladesh (Toufique & Turton, 2003).…”

“…18.More on the livelihood profiles of the top and bottom quintiles are presented in Mahapatro (2016). …”