Inequality in the household and rural-urban migration in Ethiopian farmers.

Lucie Clech,Mhairi Gibson,James Holland Jones

doi:10.1017/ehs.2020.10

Lucie Clech, Mhairi Gibson + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1017/ehs.2020.10

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Abstract

Parental investment theory predicts that biases in investment favour migration by driving some of the sibling group to disperse for resources. Here we test hypotheses arising from this theory to explain patterns of rural-urban migration in south-central Ethiopia considering familial and individual strategies. We focus on the migration of low-skilled men, predicting two scenarios based on a low level of resource availability. Firstly, last-born sons will be more likely to migrate in order to offset their intra-household disadvantage when resources are limited (sibling competition). Alternatively, in households facing livelihood insecurity, older sons will migrate in order to free resources for their younger dependant brothers (reflecting sibling cooperation). Demographic, economic and relational data were collected from 217 families of male migrants, including information for 830 male adults. We performed multivariate analyses, including Bayesian generalised linear models and mixed models, to analyse quantitative data with a focus on household and individual likelihood of out-migration. Consistent with the predictions from parental investment theory, migration is dependent on intra-household resource allocation. Depending on the stage of the family cycle and livelihood context, families and individuals present different strategies: labour migration may result from sibling competition or from cooperation for resource enhancement.

Highlights

An important part of the literature on contemporary migration focuses on the selectivity of migration, as not all classes of individuals are likely to migrate (Bratti et al 2016; Lall et al 2006; Taylor 1987; VanWey 2005)
Of the 103 individuals who migrated more than a year ago, 27.2% had sent remittances to their family in the past year. We employed both Bayesian generalised mixed linear models (BGLMM) and Bayesian generalised linear models (BGLM) to test the effect of birth-order categories, family configuration and land transfers on the selected sample (n = 830) and on two subsamples of families: families with adult-only sons (n = 517) and families with adult and under-aged sons (n = 313)
A BGLMM, with a logistic link function for the probability of labour migration was used while controlling for family level as a random factor

Summary

Introduction

An important part of the literature on contemporary migration focuses on the selectivity of migration, as not all classes of individuals are likely to migrate (Bratti et al 2016; Lall et al 2006; Taylor 1987; VanWey 2005). Despite a law dictating equal rights to inheritance, older sons are more likely to inherit land or better-quality land from their families (Congdon Fors et al 2019; Gibson and Gurmu 2011). Gibson and Gurmu (2011) have shown that laterborn farmers were disadvantaged in terms of agricultural productivity, marriage and reproductive success when land was inherited while Bezu and Holden (2014) found that later-born sons were more likely to engage in off-farm wage employment because they were less likely to inherit and to have access to land. Gibson and Gurmu (2012) found sibling competition to push out some household members as the birth of a younger sibling doubled the odds of out-migration

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