Return migration and the transfer of gender norms: Evidence from the Middle East

Abstract

Does international return migration transfer gender norms? Focusing on Jordan, an Arab country where gender inequality and emigration rates are high, this paper exploits unique data in which detailed information on female empowerment allows us to construct several measures of social norms in Jordan on the role of women, female freedom of mobility, and female decision-making power. Controlling for both emigration and return migration selections, we _nd that women with a returnee family member are more likely to bear traditional gender norms than women in households with no migration experience. Further analysis shows that results are driven by returnees from more conservative Arab countries, suggesting a transfer of conservative norms from destinations with highly traditional gender roles. We also show the implications of our results beyond perceptions for several economic and development outcomes, such as female labour force participation, education and fertility.

Residential Mobility Decreases Neural Responses to Social Norm Violation

“…The findings of the present study suggest that studying the effect of residential mobility on social cognition would allow gender differences to be taken into account. Changes in social cognition and social status might be passed to the next generation by interaction among family members (McGinn et al, 2018; Tuccio and Wahba, 2018). Females play a significant role in influencing the values and perspectives of children due to their responsibility to teach and raise the next generations, especially in the context of traditional Chinese culture (King and Bond, 1985).…”

“…According to the investigation of the National Statistics Bureau, the number of female domestic immigrants grew rapidly around 2000, even more rapidly than the growth of male immigrants (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2005). This great transformation in social roles can cause enormous challenges for female immigrants during the process of social change (Tuccio and Wahba, 2018). A previous study on the gendered division of labor during the transition period in China revealed that the impact of gender stereotypes and underrepresentation in patriarchal society undermined the status of the majority of rural women (Fan, 2003).…”

Migration-induced transfers of norms: the case of female political empowerment

“…Diabate and Mesplé-Somps (2019) uses an original household-level database coupled with census data to analyze the extent to which Malian girls living in villages with high rates of return migrants are less prone to female genital mutilation. Tuccio and Wahba (2018), instead, applies a migration-induced transfer of gender norms to Jordan focusing on the role of return migration on three gendered dimensions: the self-perceived role of women in the Jordan society, females' freedom of mobility, and women's decision-making power.…”

International migration as a driver of political and social change: evidence from Morocco

“…Firstly, we adopt multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), which has been often preferred to analyze qualitative, categorical and binary variables (Asselin 2002). Secondly, we make use of equal weights that have largely been used for their simplicity and apparent objectivity (Tuccio and Wahba 2018).…”

“…Tuccio and Wahba (2018) study the effect of return migration in Jordan on women empowerment and decision making but they do not address the destination selection as they focus only on return migrants who went to Arab countries.…”