Seasonal Poverty and Seasonal Migration in Asia
Four in five poor people in the Asia and Pacific region live in rural areas. Crop cycles in agrarian areas create periods of seasonal deprivation, or preharvest “lean seasons,” when work is scarce and skipped meals become frequent. In this paper, we document this phenomenon of seasonal poverty and d...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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World Scientific Publishing
2020-03-01
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| Series: | Asian Development Review |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1162/adev_a_00139 |
| _version_ | 1797829067481808896 |
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| author | Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak Maira Emy Reimão |
| author_facet | Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak Maira Emy Reimão |
| author_sort | Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Four in five poor people in the Asia and Pacific region live in rural areas. Crop cycles in agrarian areas create periods of seasonal deprivation, or preharvest “lean seasons,” when work is scarce and skipped meals become frequent. In this paper, we document this phenomenon of seasonal poverty and discuss existing formal mechanisms for coping with it. We then focus on seasonal migration from rural to urban areas as a potential coping strategy and review the evidence on the effects of encouraging seasonal migration through transport subsidies. Over the past 10 years, we have conducted a series of randomized control trials in Bangladesh and Indonesia that provided rural agricultural workers with small migration subsidies to pay for the cost of round-trip travel to nearby areas in search of work. This paper summarizes the lessons learned from this multicountry, multiyear series of seasonal migration trials, the implications of these results for spatial misallocation, urbanization, and growth, and the replicability and relevance of this and other policies encouraging domestic migration more broadly for other areas in the Asia and Pacific region. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T13:14:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-51bc37f6f122476aa25697f95b185be8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0116-1105 1996-7241 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T13:14:30Z |
| publishDate | 2020-03-01 |
| publisher | World Scientific Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Asian Development Review |
| spelling | doaj.art-51bc37f6f122476aa25697f95b185be82023-05-12T00:59:44ZengWorld Scientific PublishingAsian Development Review0116-11051996-72412020-03-0137114210.1162/adev_a_00139Seasonal Poverty and Seasonal Migration in AsiaAhmed Mushfiq Mobarak0Maira Emy Reimão1Professor, Yale University, United States and Deakin University, Australia.Assistant Professor, University of Florida, United States.Four in five poor people in the Asia and Pacific region live in rural areas. Crop cycles in agrarian areas create periods of seasonal deprivation, or preharvest “lean seasons,” when work is scarce and skipped meals become frequent. In this paper, we document this phenomenon of seasonal poverty and discuss existing formal mechanisms for coping with it. We then focus on seasonal migration from rural to urban areas as a potential coping strategy and review the evidence on the effects of encouraging seasonal migration through transport subsidies. Over the past 10 years, we have conducted a series of randomized control trials in Bangladesh and Indonesia that provided rural agricultural workers with small migration subsidies to pay for the cost of round-trip travel to nearby areas in search of work. This paper summarizes the lessons learned from this multicountry, multiyear series of seasonal migration trials, the implications of these results for spatial misallocation, urbanization, and growth, and the replicability and relevance of this and other policies encouraging domestic migration more broadly for other areas in the Asia and Pacific region.https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1162/adev_a_00139AsiaBangladeshmigrationseasonal povertyseasonality |
| spellingShingle | Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak Maira Emy Reimão Seasonal Poverty and Seasonal Migration in Asia Asian Development Review Asia Bangladesh migration seasonal poverty seasonality |
| title | Seasonal Poverty and Seasonal Migration in Asia |
| title_full | Seasonal Poverty and Seasonal Migration in Asia |
| title_fullStr | Seasonal Poverty and Seasonal Migration in Asia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seasonal Poverty and Seasonal Migration in Asia |
| title_short | Seasonal Poverty and Seasonal Migration in Asia |
| title_sort | seasonal poverty and seasonal migration in asia |
| topic | Asia Bangladesh migration seasonal poverty seasonality |
| url | https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1162/adev_a_00139 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ahmedmushfiqmobarak seasonalpovertyandseasonalmigrationinasia AT mairaemyreimao seasonalpovertyandseasonalmigrationinasia |