CASH TRANSFERS AND MIGRATION: THEORY AND EVIDENCE FROM A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL
Date
2023-01-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Repository Usage Stats
views
downloads
Citation Stats
Attention Stats
Abstract
Will the fast expansion of cash-based programming in poor countries increase international migration? Theoretically, cash transfers may deter migration by increasing its opportunity cost or favor migration by re-laxing liquidity, credit, and risk constraints. This paper evaluates the impact of a cash-for-work program on migration. Randomly selected households in Comoros were offered up to US$320 in cash in exchange for their partic-ipation in public works projects. We find that the program increased international migration by 38% from 7.8% to 10.8%. The increase in migration appears to be driven by the alleviation of liquidity and risk constraints.
Type
Department
Description
Provenance
Subjects
Citation
Permalink
Published Version (Please cite this version)
Publication Info
Gazeaud, J, E Mvukiyehe and O Sterck (2023). CASH TRANSFERS AND MIGRATION: THEORY AND EVIDENCE FROM A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. Review of Economics and Statistics, 105(1). pp. 143–157. 10.1162/rest_a_01041 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/31841.
This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
Collections
Scholars@Duke
Eric Ndahayo Mvukiyehe
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Duke University (tenure track.) My academic and policy research cut across many topics and contexts, including on: (i) reducing poverty and promoting socioeconomic welfare and psychological wellbeing for the poor and at-risk youth; (ii) political economy of conflict, peacebuilding and development in fragile and war-torn countries; (iii) strengthening state capacity in fragile states through reforming the civil service and traditional institutions; and (iv) promoting women’s empowerment through socioeconomic inclusion and political participation. I have also been conducting (v) COVID-19 research, leveraging previous or ongoing research to in investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected businesses as well as households’ welfare and well-being in efforts to help inform policies and strategies to mitigate the pandemic’s deleterious effects.
Prior to joining the Duke Faculty, I was an Economist at the World Bank’s Development Economics Vice-Presidency (DEC), in its Development Impact Evaluation Department (DIME), where I helped establish and led the Evidence for Peace (E4P) program. This is an innovative research program on Fragility, Conflict and Violence (FCV) whose main goal was to provide evidence-based guide to policy action and projects’ mid-course correction, while addressing critical knowledge gaps identified in the World Development Report (WDR) 2014 (see E4P/FCV program blurb here). At its peak, the E4P program a portfolio of over 40 impact evaluation studies, which covers over $2.5 billion of FCV operations in 25 countries and has about $35 million in research funding. I was also the World Bank’s Institutional Representative at the Experiments in Governance and Politics (EGAP), a global research, evaluation, and learning network that promotes rigorous knowledge accumulation, innovation, and evidence-based policy in various governance and accountability domains.
Prior to joining DEC/DIME, I worked in the Word Bank’s Africa Gender Innovation Lab (GIL), where I provided technical assistance in the design and implementation of gender programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. I was also a Democracy Fellow with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), where I developed rigorous impact evaluations and analytical work of US Government programs in the Democracy, Human Rights and Governance (DRG) sector. Finally, prior to joining the World Bank, I consulted for the United Nations (UN) Secretariat, where I led impact evaluations of UN peacekeeping operations in Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia using local population surveys, as part of a broader evaluation of these operations’ performance by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).
I hold a Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University (2014), with focus on international security/relations, political economy, and comparative politics. I have taught, given talks and written extensively about the aforementioned research areas for many years and my research has been published in the Journal of Development Economics (JDE); the Review of Economics and Statistics (REStat); the BMJ Global Health; the Quarterly Journal of Political Science (QJPS); the World Politics (WP); the World Development (WD); the Journal of Conflict Resolution (JCR); the Journal of Peace Research (JPR); and the Comparative Political Studies (CPS), among other outlets.
Unless otherwise indicated, scholarly articles published by Duke faculty members are made available here with a CC-BY-NC (Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial) license, as enabled by the Duke Open Access Policy. If you wish to use the materials in ways not already permitted under CC-BY-NC, please consult the copyright owner. Other materials are made available here through the author’s grant of a non-exclusive license to make their work openly accessible.