Land Ownership as a Determinant of International and Internal Migration in Mexico and Internal Migration in Thailand

Abstract

This study focuses on the effect of land ownership on internal and international out-migration in Mexico and on internal out-migration in Thailand. Land can impact migration in four ways: as wealth; as employment; as an investment opportunity; and through inequality in ownership. Discrete time event history models of individual migration, using data from the Mexican Migration Project (covering Western Mexico) and data from the Nang Rong Project (covering one district in Northeast Thailand), show the effects of size of landholdings on internal out-migration of men. They also estimate the independent effects of relative deprivation in land ownership on migration. Results show that the size of landholdings has a negative effect on out-migration for smaller landholders (the majority of landholders). The size of landholdings has a positive effect on out-migration for larger landholders. Results suggest that the purchase and improvement of land are opportunities for investing the proceeds of migration.