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Social barriers to female migration: Theory and evidence from Bangladesh

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  • Amirapu, Amrit
  • Asadullah, M. Niaz
  • Wahhaj, Zaki

Abstract

Traditional gender norms can restrict independent migration by women, thus preventing them from taking advantage of economic opportunities in urban areas. To explore this phenomenon, we develop a model in which women make marriage and migration decisions jointly. The model shows that, in response to a decline in the economic cost of migration, women may use marital migration to circumvent social barriers to female independent migration. To test this and related hypotheses, we use the construction of a major bridge in Bangladesh – which dramatically reduced travel times between the economically deprived north-western region and the capital city Dhaka – as a source of variation in migration costs. Consistent with the predictions of the model, we find that, among rural women from wealthier families, the bridge increased marital migration, schooling, dowry payments, and work in the manufacturing sector, but had no effect on economic migration.

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  • Amirapu, Amrit & Asadullah, M. Niaz & Wahhaj, Zaki, 2022. "Social barriers to female migration: Theory and evidence from Bangladesh," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:158:y:2022:i:c:s0304387822000554
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2022.102891
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Migration; Marriage markets; Female labour force participation; Gender norms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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