Remittances, Structural Inequality, and Multidimensional Poverty in Nepal

Until the emergence of the New Economics of Labor Migration (NELM) in the 1980s, migration scholars were largely divided into two main theoretical camps, viz. the neoclassical and historical-structural approaches to migration. Against this background, the NELM presented itself as a theoretical ‘third way’ between the two latter approaches, and purported to reconcile agency and structure in a way previously unachieved by either of them. While those pretensions gained a fair amount of acceptance and popularity, this paper argues that they are fundamentally misleading, and that the NELM is little more than a slightly more sophisticated avatar of the neoclassical approach to migration, whose fundamental weaknesses it has not, and cannot, shed. This paper further argues that, in so doing, the NELM effectively constitutes migration theory's own instance of economics imperialism, i.e. the attempt to advance the fundamental tenets of neoclassical economics (methodological individualism and the assumption of optimizing rationality) within the context of the study and interpretation of various social phenomena. In order to put forth these arguments, this paper provides a summary presentation of the standard neoclassical theory of migration, the historical-structural heterodoxy and the NELM; highlights why it is that the NELM should be regarded as a ‘reworked’ version of the neoclassical theoretical framework and discusses its inception in the context of the ‘information-theoretic revolution’ in economics; and argues for a new and improved ‘historical-structural synthesis’ as a more satisfactory alternative to both the NELM and the standard neoclassical theory.

This article analyzes the relationship between migration and agricultural production in Burkina Faso. It lies on the model of the New Economics of Labor Migration, and uses the 2003 to 2004 cropping season data collected in the Sudanese area. The results show that the majority of rural households in Burkina Faso are involved in migration, and migration is an important part of their income. The results obtained from the analysis come to validate partially the assumptions of the New Economics of Labor Migration; which highlight some weaknesses in the way markets function in the rural area notably the labor market. Key words: Migration, remittances, agricultural production, new economics of labor migration, Burkina Faso

The urbanization in China is “incomplete” and the migration of non-hukou migrants is circular, wherein rural migrants often keep their rural land in the home village as a social safety net. The informal housing market is one of the main housing providers for migrant workers. Existing studies see informal housing as the migrants’ passive choice under the discriminatory hukou system, while underplaying the migrants’ familial multi-site tenure strategies between village homes and city places. As suggested by New Economics of Labor Migration (NELM), attachment to a place of origin (such as keeping hometown lands), while choosing informal housing at the destination, is a familial utility maximization strategy that can control risks when migrating between locations. Informal housing areas, therefore, become a trans-local rural-urban gradient and semi-urban landscape. We use the 2017 Migrant Dynamics Monitoring Survey data and the binary logistic regression to examine (a) whether hometown landowning is a significant predictor of the migrants’ choosing of a temporary stay in informal settlements in urban destinations, and (b) which kind of hometown land arrangement (farmland or homestead holding or both of them) is the strongest indicator of the higher probability of staying in informal settlements in urban destinations? The data analysis reveals that homestead in hometown is a more prominent pulling factor than farmland to “glue” rural migrants together within an integrated rural land “insurance regime” between the migrant-sending and -receiving places. The land-use and informal housing governance (including urban village demolition) ignore the trans-local nature of the migratory networks and semi-urbanizing dynamics. The traditional analysis of the rural-urban gradient with many landscapes should consider the functional and tenurial linkage between the locations at different points along with the complex migration activities.

This paper aims to examine New Economics of Labor Migration (NELM) in the northwestern Guangxi, China and investigate the relationships among rural-urban migration, rural household income and local geographical contexts. Stratified sampling and typical case study were adopted and 236 questionnaires were collected from four villages, Daxin, Lixin, Longhe and Yongchang. We analyzed the rural-urban migration rate, household income and local geographical factors, focusing on the ratio of remittance income to total household income. Data descriptions and statistical methods, such as Pearson Chi-square test, Contingency coefficient, Eta, Pearson correlation coefficient, t-test, multiple comparisons (LSD test, Tamhane T2, Dunnett T3 and Dunnet C test) were used. The results are as follows. Rural households’ income is diversified in survey villages so the motivation of rural-urban migration in the study area can be partly explained by NELM. The migration rate of households (the percentage of households with migrants in survey households) in survey villages varies from 50% to 86%, while the proportion of remittance income to household income is in the range of 30% to 80%. In the village of Yongchang, with the least average arable land area per household, the remittance income plays a vital role in household income (80%). And the statistical findings show that the proportion is significantly and negatively correlated with arable land area per household. The conclusion is that direct effect of migration, i.e., the contribution of remittance to household income, is negatively correlated with the contribution of resources to local income.

The New Economics of Labor Migration (NELM) hypothesizes that migration is a strategy to reduce risks and financial liquidity constraints of rural households. This paper tests this hypothesis for the case of Vietnam. The impacts of migration on agricultural production and diversification are estimated in fixed effects regression models based on a panel data set of about 2,000 households in Vietnam. The findings suggest that rural households who receive remittances from their migrants reduce the share of their income from rice, increase their land productivity and become more specialized in labor allocation. However, migration also decreases labor productivity and crop diversification of rural households. Overall, the NELM hypothesis is only supported in cases migrant households receive remittances.

Objectives. We study migrant remittances among households surveyed in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, testing expectations derived from the new economics of labor migration (NELM) and from the historic‐structural approach.Methods. We applied logistic regression analyses to survey data collected by the Mexican Migration Project and the Latin American Migration Project, focusing on the contrast between Mexico and the Dominican Republic.Results. In Mexico, remittances seem to be associated with the patriarchal traditional family, but in the Dominican Republic we verified the opposite. Receipt of remittances is positively associated with degree of development among Mexican households, but the association is negative in the Dominican Republic. In addition, Mexican remittances are negatively associated with the number of businesses in the local community.Conclusions. In Mexico, as predicted by NELM, the cohesive patriarchal family ensures the flow of remittances as part of a household strategy of risk diversification. Dominican remittances, however, seem to be mostly determined by lack of opportunities and household need.

The debate on migration and development has swung back and forth like a pendulum, from developmentalist optimism in the 1950s and 1960s, to neo‐Marxist pessimism over the 1970s and 1980s, towards more optimistic views in the 1990s and 2000s. This paper argues how such discursive shifts in the migration and development debate should be primarily seen as part of more general paradigm shifts in social and development theory. However, the classical opposition between pessimistic and optimistic views is challenged by empirical evidence pointing to the heterogeneity of migration impacts. By integrating and amending insights from the new economics of labor migration, livelihood perspectives in development studies and transnational perspectives in migration studies – which share several though as yet unobserved conceptual parallels – this paper elaborates the contours of a conceptual framework that simultaneously integrates agency and structure perspectives and is therefore able to account for the heterogeneous nature of migration‐development interactions. The resulting perspective reveals the naivety of recent views celebrating migration as self‐help development “from below”. These views are largely ideologically driven and shift the attention away from structural constraints and the vital role of states in shaping favorable conditions for positive development impacts of migration to occur.

Although the effect of rural road development projects on income poverty has been well studied, little research has been undertaken on the impact on the multiple dimensions of poverty. In this study, we examine the effect of the improvement and construction of rural roads in rural Nepal on household deprivation of health, education, and living standards. We use data from two rounds of the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (2001, 2011) and a difference-in-differences approach to estimate the average treatment effect on multidimensional poverty. Our study finds evidence of reductions in household deprivation, mainly driven by improvements in asset ownership and dwelling infrastructure. We fail to observe significant effects on the health and education indicators. We test these findings by using propensity-score matching and inverse-probability weighting methods as robustness checks, and generally find similar estimates. In line with the literature in the field, we find heterogeneity in the results across socioeconomic groups and poverty dimensions. Further exploration suggests that household land ownership and economic activity might be driving this heterogeneity. Our work highlights the importance of using multidimensional measures to assess poverty and to empirically evaluate the impact of infrastructure projects on the development of countries, especially their rural regions.

Migration and development are intricately linked through complex economic, social, and political processes. The theoretical debate surrounding migration and development has evolved over time, shifting from early perspectives that viewed migration as a consequence of underdevelopment to more contemporary views that recognize migration as a driver of development. This paper explores the major theoretical frameworks that shape the discourse on migration and development, including modernization theory, dependency theory, world-systems theory, the new economics of labor migration (NELM), and transnationalism. By critically analyzing these theories, this paper aims to illuminate the multifaceted relationship between migration and development and provide insights into contemporary policy debates. Jagannath University Journal of Life and Earth Sciences, 10(1) 1-16

Migration, remittances and smallholder decision-making: Implications for land use and livelihood change in Central America

The focus of land economics is on how to decrease the misallocation of resources to achieve an optimal allocation of resources. Both the theories of new economics of labor migration (NELM) and the conclusions of empirical studies reveal that land resources will inevitably be reallocated (e.g., rented out) if the resources of family labor are reallocated (e.g., off-farm employment). However, this study reveals that off-farm employment does not inevitably lead to land rent out. More precisely, this study uses survey data on 8031 peasant households from 27 provinces in China and explores the relationship between off-farm employment and land rent out by describing spatial features and through empirical analysis (e.g., IV-Probit model and IV-Tobit model). The results show the following: 1) There is an indirect relationship between off-farm employment and land rent out regarding spatial area aggregation, i.e., regions with a higher ratio of off-farm employment also have a lower area of land rent out. 2) Off-farm employment is significantly positively correlated with the behavior of land rent out, but its square is significantly negatively correlated with the behavior, i.e., there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between off-farm employment and the behavior of land rent out, with the turning point being 55.55% off-farm employment. 3) Off-farm employment is significantly positively correlated with the area of land rent out, but its square is significantly negatively correlated with the area, i.e., there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between off-farm employment and the area of land rent out, with the turning point being 56.22% off-farm employment. This study helps explain why China has a high ratio of off-farm employment but a lower rate of land rent out.

Why do migrants send remittances? Through ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews among Bangladeshi migrants in Tokyo, this article explores the social determinants of migrants’ remitting practices. It offers a realist analytical approach following Durkheim’s perspective on how society determines an individual’s action. It recognizes social relations between the migrants and their families and relatives as the essential foundation for remitting to occur, while migrants’ adherence to social norms, as well as legal and social exclusion in the destination, causes them to participate in various qualitatively distinct remitting practices. Therefore, it argues that migrants’ social relations to the family and community cause them to remit, and changes in these relations result in subsequent changes in their remitting. It complements the New Economics of Labor Migration (NELM) approach by incorporating the social (both relational and spatial) context of remitting. By bringing in migrants’ agency, it also overcomes the limitations in social-cultural approaches that prioritize structural determinants.

The new economics of labor migration (NELM) frequently emphasizes the importance of migration as a way for rural households to overcome credit constraints. If this hypothesis is correct, then the credit constraint is a motivation for migration (a relaxation of this constraint would encourage less migration). Conventionally, it is believed that migration is costly and has to be financed with borrowed capital, so the credit constraint is a deterrent of migration (a relaxation of this constraint would encourage more migration). In this paper, an agricultural household model is developed to study whether the credit constraint is a motivation for or a deterrent to migration. The model's result confirms the NELM's hypothesis: for households with high demand for agricultural investments and high net migration return, migration is used as a way to finance capital investments. Using data from four provinces in Vietnam, preliminary evidence is found supporting this hypothesis.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to gain more insight into the relationship between off‐farm employment of rural households and water‐saving investments and irrigation water use in rural China.Design/methodology/approachData from a survey held among 317 households in Minle County, Zhangye City, Gansu Province, covering the year 2007, are used for a probit analysis explaining investments in land leveling and for an ordinary least squares regression explaining irrigation water use per mu.FindingsOff‐farm employment is not significantly related to investments in land leveling, but is negatively associated with water use per mu. In addition, the paper finds that the share of migrant students in a household is positively related to investments in land leveling. The results indicate the presence of major factor market imperfections in the research area, and confirm that the new economics of labor migration (NELM) approach is more relevant for analyzing off‐farm employment and agricultural production in China than neoclassical economic theory.Originality/valueThe paper expands the NELM approach towards the analysis of water‐saving investments and water use. In addition, it distinguishes migrant students as an important category that should be taken into account in analyzing farm household decisions making.

Migration is a multifaceted global phenomenon driven by economic, social, and political factors. This study explores the drivers, characteristics, and patterns of out-migrants from Rural Tigray, Ethiopia, using mixed cross-sectional data from 521 households across three districts (Weredas): Tahtai-Maichew, Kola-Tembien, and Kilte-Awlaelo. A mixed-methods approach combines quantitative surveys with qualitative data from focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and in-depth interviews. Findings show that temporary migration is predominant (71.5%), with more females (58.1%) than males (41.9%) migrating, aligning with the New Economics of Labor Migration (NELM) theory, which frames migration as a household strategy to diversify income and reduce economic risks. 50.0% of the temporary migrants have completed primary education (50.0%), indicating limited rural opportunities for lower-skilled individuals. Social networks are critical, with 64.4% of temporary migrants relying on irregular channels facilitated by informal networks. Internal migration (54.5%) exceeds international migration (45.5%), and single migrants (77.1% of temporary migrants) are more likely to migrate due to fewer familial obligations. Key informants highlight that migrant are typically young, from poor households, and often depend on brokers and traffickers, especially for irregular migration to Europe. Key drivers include the search for better jobs and wages (64.8%), lack of land (40.6%), and limited access to credit services (34.2%). Hence, policy recommendations include addressing land scarcity, improving credit access, creating local jobs, strengthening legal migration channels, and combating illegal brokers and human-trafficking. Targeted interventions can reduce rural out-migration pressures and can enhance livelihoods in Tigrai.