Rural-Urban Migration in Developing Countries : A Survey of Theoretical Predictions and Empirical Findings

The migration of labor from rural to urban areas is an important part of the urbanization process in developing countries. Even though it has been the focus of abundant research over the past five decades, some key policy questions have not found clear answers yet. To what extent is internal migrati...

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Main Authors:	Lall, Somik V., Selod, Harris, Shalizi, Zmarak
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:	AGRICULTURE AVERAGE PRODUCTIVITY CAPITAL MARKETS CITIES COMPENSATION CONSUMPTION LEVELS DISEQUILIBRIUM DISGUISED UNEMPLOYMENT DOMESTIC WORKERS DUAL ECONOMY EARNINGS INEQUALITY ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY ECONOMIC JUSTIFICATION ECONOMIC SECTORS ECONOMIC THEORY ELASTICITY EMPLOYMENT EFFECTS EMPLOYMENT LEVELS EMPLOYMENT PROBABILITY EQUILIBRIUM EXOGENOUS SHOCK EXPECTED RETURN EXPECTED UTILITY EXPECTED WAGES EXTERNALITIES FORCED MIGRATION FULL EMPLOYMENT GROWTH MODELS HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES HIGH WAGE HOUSING HUMAN CAPITAL IMPERFECT COMPETITION INCOME INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCREASING RETURNS INEFFICIENCY INFORMAL SECTOR INTERNAL MIGRATION INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION JOB CREATION JOB SEARCH JOB SEEKERS JOBS LABOR DEMAND LABOR FORCE LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKET ADJUSTMENT LABOR MARKETS LABOR MIGRATION LABOR SUPPLY LABOR TURNOVER LIFE EXPECTANCY MANUFACTURING WAGE MARGINAL PRODUCTIVITY MARGINAL PRODUCTS MIGRANTS MIGRATION PATTERNS MIGRATION POLICIES MIGRATION RATES MINIMUM WAGE MOBILITY NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES OCCUPATIONS OPEN UNEMPLOYMENT PERFECT COMPETITION PROPERTY RIGHTS REAL WAGES RETURN MIGRATION RISK AVERSE RISK AVERSION RURAL LABOR RURAL WORKERS SKILL GROUPS SKILLED WORKERS SOCIAL NETWORKS SOCIAL WELFARE SURPLUS LABOR TOTAL LABOR FORCE UNEMPLOYED UNEMPLOYED WORKER UNEMPLOYED WORKERS UNEMPLOYMENT UNEMPLOYMENT LEVEL UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM UNEMPLOYMENT RATE URBAN URBAN AREA URBAN AREAS URBAN EMPLOYMENT URBAN GROWTH URBAN LABOR URBAN LAND URBAN POPULATION URBAN SECTOR URBAN UNEMPLOYMENT URBAN WORKERS URBANIZATION URBANIZATION PROCESS WAGE DIFFERENTIAL WAGE DIFFERENTIALS WAGE SUBSIDIES WAGE SUBSIDY WEALTH WORKER HETEROGENEITY WORKERS
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/05/6770863/rural-urban-migration-developing-countries-survey-theoretical-predictions-empirical-findings http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8669

id	okr-10986-8669
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-86692021-04-23T14:02:40Z Rural-Urban Migration in Developing Countries : A Survey of Theoretical Predictions and Empirical Findings Lall, Somik V. Selod, Harris Shalizi, Zmarak AGRICULTURE AVERAGE PRODUCTIVITY CAPITAL MARKETS CITIES COMPENSATION CONSUMPTION LEVELS DISEQUILIBRIUM DISGUISED UNEMPLOYMENT DOMESTIC WORKERS DUAL ECONOMY EARNINGS INEQUALITY ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY ECONOMIC JUSTIFICATION ECONOMIC SECTORS ECONOMIC THEORY ELASTICITY EMPLOYMENT EFFECTS EMPLOYMENT LEVELS EMPLOYMENT PROBABILITY EQUILIBRIUM EXOGENOUS SHOCK EXPECTED RETURN EXPECTED UTILITY EXPECTED WAGES EXTERNALITIES FORCED MIGRATION FULL EMPLOYMENT GROWTH MODELS HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES HIGH WAGE HOUSING HUMAN CAPITAL IMPERFECT COMPETITION INCOME INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCREASING RETURNS INEFFICIENCY INFORMAL SECTOR INTERNAL MIGRATION INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION JOB CREATION JOB SEARCH JOB SEEKERS JOBS LABOR DEMAND LABOR FORCE LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKET ADJUSTMENT LABOR MARKETS LABOR MIGRATION LABOR SUPPLY LABOR TURNOVER LIFE EXPECTANCY MANUFACTURING WAGE MARGINAL PRODUCTIVITY MARGINAL PRODUCTS MIGRANTS MIGRATION PATTERNS MIGRATION POLICIES MIGRATION RATES MINIMUM WAGE MOBILITY NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES OCCUPATIONS OPEN UNEMPLOYMENT PERFECT COMPETITION PROPERTY RIGHTS REAL WAGES RETURN MIGRATION RISK AVERSE RISK AVERSION RURAL LABOR RURAL WORKERS SKILL GROUPS SKILLED WORKERS SOCIAL NETWORKS SOCIAL WELFARE SURPLUS LABOR TOTAL LABOR FORCE UNEMPLOYED UNEMPLOYED WORKER UNEMPLOYED WORKERS UNEMPLOYMENT UNEMPLOYMENT LEVEL UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM UNEMPLOYMENT RATE URBAN URBAN AREA URBAN AREAS URBAN EMPLOYMENT URBAN GROWTH URBAN LABOR URBAN LAND URBAN POPULATION URBAN SECTOR URBAN UNEMPLOYMENT URBAN WORKERS URBANIZATION URBANIZATION PROCESS WAGE DIFFERENTIAL WAGE DIFFERENTIALS WAGE SUBSIDIES WAGE SUBSIDY WEALTH WORKER HETEROGENEITY WORKERS The migration of labor from rural to urban areas is an important part of the urbanization process in developing countries. Even though it has been the focus of abundant research over the past five decades, some key policy questions have not found clear answers yet. To what extent is internal migration a desirable phenomenon and under what circumstances? Should governments intervene and, if so, with what types of interventions? What should be their policy objectives? To shed light on these important issues, the authors survey the existing theoretical models and their conflicting policy implications and discuss the policies that may be justified based on recent relevant empirical studies. A key limitation is that much of the empirical literature does not provide structural tests of the theoretical models, but only provides partial findings that can support or invalidate intuitions and in that sense, support or invalidate the policy implications of the models. The authors' broad assessment of the literature is that migration can be beneficial or at least be turned into a beneficial phenomenon so that in general migration restrictions are not desirable. They also identify some data issues and research topics which merit further investigation. 2012-06-21T17:39:23Z 2012-06-21T17:39:23Z 2006-05 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/05/6770863/rural-urban-migration-developing-countries-survey-theoretical-predictions-empirical-findings http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8669 English Policy Research Working Paper; No. 3915 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	AGRICULTURE AVERAGE PRODUCTIVITY CAPITAL MARKETS CITIES COMPENSATION CONSUMPTION LEVELS DISEQUILIBRIUM DISGUISED UNEMPLOYMENT DOMESTIC WORKERS DUAL ECONOMY EARNINGS INEQUALITY ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY ECONOMIC JUSTIFICATION ECONOMIC SECTORS ECONOMIC THEORY ELASTICITY EMPLOYMENT EFFECTS EMPLOYMENT LEVELS EMPLOYMENT PROBABILITY EQUILIBRIUM EXOGENOUS SHOCK EXPECTED RETURN EXPECTED UTILITY EXPECTED WAGES EXTERNALITIES FORCED MIGRATION FULL EMPLOYMENT GROWTH MODELS HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES HIGH WAGE HOUSING HUMAN CAPITAL IMPERFECT COMPETITION INCOME INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCREASING RETURNS INEFFICIENCY INFORMAL SECTOR INTERNAL MIGRATION INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION JOB CREATION JOB SEARCH JOB SEEKERS JOBS LABOR DEMAND LABOR FORCE LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKET ADJUSTMENT LABOR MARKETS LABOR MIGRATION LABOR SUPPLY LABOR TURNOVER LIFE EXPECTANCY MANUFACTURING WAGE MARGINAL PRODUCTIVITY MARGINAL PRODUCTS MIGRANTS MIGRATION PATTERNS MIGRATION POLICIES MIGRATION RATES MINIMUM WAGE MOBILITY NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES OCCUPATIONS OPEN UNEMPLOYMENT PERFECT COMPETITION PROPERTY RIGHTS REAL WAGES RETURN MIGRATION RISK AVERSE RISK AVERSION RURAL LABOR RURAL WORKERS SKILL GROUPS SKILLED WORKERS SOCIAL NETWORKS SOCIAL WELFARE SURPLUS LABOR TOTAL LABOR FORCE UNEMPLOYED UNEMPLOYED WORKER UNEMPLOYED WORKERS UNEMPLOYMENT UNEMPLOYMENT LEVEL UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM UNEMPLOYMENT RATE URBAN URBAN AREA URBAN AREAS URBAN EMPLOYMENT URBAN GROWTH URBAN LABOR URBAN LAND URBAN POPULATION URBAN SECTOR URBAN UNEMPLOYMENT URBAN WORKERS URBANIZATION URBANIZATION PROCESS WAGE DIFFERENTIAL WAGE DIFFERENTIALS WAGE SUBSIDIES WAGE SUBSIDY WEALTH WORKER HETEROGENEITY WORKERS
spellingShingle	AGRICULTURE AVERAGE PRODUCTIVITY CAPITAL MARKETS CITIES COMPENSATION CONSUMPTION LEVELS DISEQUILIBRIUM DISGUISED UNEMPLOYMENT DOMESTIC WORKERS DUAL ECONOMY EARNINGS INEQUALITY ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY ECONOMIC JUSTIFICATION ECONOMIC SECTORS ECONOMIC THEORY ELASTICITY EMPLOYMENT EFFECTS EMPLOYMENT LEVELS EMPLOYMENT PROBABILITY EQUILIBRIUM EXOGENOUS SHOCK EXPECTED RETURN EXPECTED UTILITY EXPECTED WAGES EXTERNALITIES FORCED MIGRATION FULL EMPLOYMENT GROWTH MODELS HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES HIGH WAGE HOUSING HUMAN CAPITAL IMPERFECT COMPETITION INCOME INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCREASING RETURNS INEFFICIENCY INFORMAL SECTOR INTERNAL MIGRATION INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION JOB CREATION JOB SEARCH JOB SEEKERS JOBS LABOR DEMAND LABOR FORCE LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKET ADJUSTMENT LABOR MARKETS LABOR MIGRATION LABOR SUPPLY LABOR TURNOVER LIFE EXPECTANCY MANUFACTURING WAGE MARGINAL PRODUCTIVITY MARGINAL PRODUCTS MIGRANTS MIGRATION PATTERNS MIGRATION POLICIES MIGRATION RATES MINIMUM WAGE MOBILITY NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES OCCUPATIONS OPEN UNEMPLOYMENT PERFECT COMPETITION PROPERTY RIGHTS REAL WAGES RETURN MIGRATION RISK AVERSE RISK AVERSION RURAL LABOR RURAL WORKERS SKILL GROUPS SKILLED WORKERS SOCIAL NETWORKS SOCIAL WELFARE SURPLUS LABOR TOTAL LABOR FORCE UNEMPLOYED UNEMPLOYED WORKER UNEMPLOYED WORKERS UNEMPLOYMENT UNEMPLOYMENT LEVEL UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM UNEMPLOYMENT RATE URBAN URBAN AREA URBAN AREAS URBAN EMPLOYMENT URBAN GROWTH URBAN LABOR URBAN LAND URBAN POPULATION URBAN SECTOR URBAN UNEMPLOYMENT URBAN WORKERS URBANIZATION URBANIZATION PROCESS WAGE DIFFERENTIAL WAGE DIFFERENTIALS WAGE SUBSIDIES WAGE SUBSIDY WEALTH WORKER HETEROGENEITY WORKERS Lall, Somik V. Selod, Harris Shalizi, Zmarak Rural-Urban Migration in Developing Countries : A Survey of Theoretical Predictions and Empirical Findings
relation	Policy Research Working Paper; No. 3915
description	The migration of labor from rural to urban areas is an important part of the urbanization process in developing countries. Even though it has been the focus of abundant research over the past five decades, some key policy questions have not found clear answers yet. To what extent is internal migration a desirable phenomenon and under what circumstances? Should governments intervene and, if so, with what types of interventions? What should be their policy objectives? To shed light on these important issues, the authors survey the existing theoretical models and their conflicting policy implications and discuss the policies that may be justified based on recent relevant empirical studies. A key limitation is that much of the empirical literature does not provide structural tests of the theoretical models, but only provides partial findings that can support or invalidate intuitions and in that sense, support or invalidate the policy implications of the models. The authors' broad assessment of the literature is that migration can be beneficial or at least be turned into a beneficial phenomenon so that in general migration restrictions are not desirable. They also identify some data issues and research topics which merit further investigation.
format	Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
author	Lall, Somik V. Selod, Harris Shalizi, Zmarak
author_facet	Lall, Somik V. Selod, Harris Shalizi, Zmarak
author_sort	Lall, Somik V.
title	Rural-Urban Migration in Developing Countries : A Survey of Theoretical Predictions and Empirical Findings
title_short	Rural-Urban Migration in Developing Countries : A Survey of Theoretical Predictions and Empirical Findings
title_full	Rural-Urban Migration in Developing Countries : A Survey of Theoretical Predictions and Empirical Findings
title_fullStr	Rural-Urban Migration in Developing Countries : A Survey of Theoretical Predictions and Empirical Findings
title_full_unstemmed	Rural-Urban Migration in Developing Countries : A Survey of Theoretical Predictions and Empirical Findings
title_sort	rural-urban migration in developing countries : a survey of theoretical predictions and empirical findings
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2012
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/05/6770863/rural-urban-migration-developing-countries-survey-theoretical-predictions-empirical-findings http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8669
_version_	1764406095124627456

Rural-Urban Migration in Developing Countries : A Survey of Theoretical Predictions and Empirical Findings

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