Migration decisions and destination choices

Abstract

We used data collected from a face-to-face interview survey of 395 randomly selected farm households in Central Nepal’s Chitwan district to understand the migration decision-making processes and migration destination choices. This district was chosen because it represents the microcosm of whole Nepal due to the presence of migratory population from all over the country within the tropical and sub-tropical climatic districts. We used probit and multinomial logit regression models to discern the individual and family migration decision-making behaviors and to understand what determines the choice of migration destinations. Results suggested that migration decision-making is based on (a) the presence of a large number of young males in the family; (b) having fewer males with secondary education; (c) having more females with secondary education; and (d) higher household wealth. These ‘a–d’factors positively affect migration decision-making. Destination choice is generally dictated by individual characteristics and the economic potential of a destination site. Young, unmarried, male heads of families with a relatively large number of adult males but relatively low land holdings and wealth status choose Malaysia; older people from families with a fewer number of educated females and low land holdings choose India, and relatively less-educated females from families with less-educated heads of households but higher land holdings choose the Gulf Cooperation Council countries as their migration destination.