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Seasonal Migration and Microcredit During Agricultural Lean Seasons: Evidence from Northwest Bangladesh

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type="main"> This paper investigates the interlinkage between microcredit and temporary seasonal migration, an issue which has been given little attention in the standard rural–urban migration literature. Seasonal migration due to agricultural downturns is a common phenomenon in developing countries. Using primary data from a cross-sectional household survey of the northwest part of Bangladesh, this paper quantifies the factors that influence such migration decisions. Our results suggest that people with prior access to microcredit are more likely to migrate during an agricultural lean season. Furthermore, we find evidence of a negative selection effect between microcredit and seasonal migration, conditional on an individual's village of residence and observed characteristics. Our results have numerous potential policy implications, including the design of typical microcredit schemes for developing countries.

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  • Abu S. Shonchoy, 2015. "Seasonal Migration and Microcredit During Agricultural Lean Seasons: Evidence from Northwest Bangladesh," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 53(1), pages 1-26, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:deveco:v:53:y:2015:i:1:p:1-26
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael A. Clemens & Hannah M. Postel, 2018. "Deterring Emigration with Foreign Aid: An Overview of Evidence from Low‐Income Countries," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 44(4), pages 667-693, December.
    2. Bangkim Biswas & Bishawjit Mallick, 2021. "Livelihood diversification as key to long-term non-migration: evidence from coastal Bangladesh," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 8924-8948, June.
    3. Shonchoy, Abu S. & Kurosaki, Takashi, 2014. "Impact of seasonality-adjusted flexible microcredit on repayment and food consumption : experimental evidence from rural Bangladesh," IDE Discussion Papers 460, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    4. Emran, M. Shahe & Shilpi, Forhad, 2021. "Microfinance, Moneylenders, and Economic Shocks: An Assessment of the Bangladesh Experience," MPRA Paper 111159, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Kurosaki, Takashi, 2012. "Urban Transportation Infrastructure and Poverty Reduction: Delhi Metro's Impact on the Cycle Rickshaw Rental Market," PRIMCED Discussion Paper Series 24, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    6. Chan Mono Oum & Gazi M. Hassan & Mark J. Holmes, 2022. "Impact of Microcredit on Labour Migration Decisions: Evidence from a Cambodian Household Survey," Working Papers in Economics 22/01, University of Waikato.
    7. Ghebru, Hosaena & Amare, Mulubrhan & Mavrotas, George & Ogunniyi, Adebayo, 2018. "Role of land access in youth migration and youth employment decisions: Empirical evidence from rural Nigeria," NSSP working papers 58, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Michael Clemens and Timothy N. Ogden, 2014. "Migration as a Strategy for Household Finance: A Research Agenda on Remittances, Payments, and Development- Working Paper 354," Working Papers 354, Center for Global Development.

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