Relative Deprivation and Migration in an Agricultural Setting of Nepal

Abstract

Are individuals from a relatively more deprived household more likely to migrate for work reasons compared to those from a relatively less deprived household? In this paper, I have empirically tested the relative deprivation hypothesis of migration put forth by Oded Stark and his colleagues. I used data from 1465 farming households in a rural agricultural setting of Nepal. The data was collected from the western Chitwan Valley in 1996. With these data, I used a logistic regression analysis technique to examine the influence of relative deprivation on migration. My findings support the hypothesis that individuals from households with relatively less access to cultivated land are more likely to migrate in search of work compared to those from a relatively well-off household with more land holdings. My findings can be useful in understanding the significance of relative deprivation in household migration decisions where access to cultivable land is declining due to land fragmentation as a result of population growth and land division by inheritance.