Under-investment in a Profitable Technology: The Case of Seasonal Migration in Bangladesh

Gharad Bryan, Shyamal Chowdhury () and Ahmed Mobarak

No 20172, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Hunger during pre-harvest lean seasons is widespread in the agrarian areas of Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. We randomly assign an $8.50 incentive to households in rural Bangladesh to temporarily out-migrate during the lean season. The incentive induces 22% of households to send a seasonal migrant, their consumption at the origin increases significantly, and treated households are 8-10 percentage points more likely to re-migrate 1 and 3 years after the incentive is removed. These facts can be explained qualitatively by a model in which migration is risky, mitigating risk requires individual-specific learning, and some migrants are sufficiently close to subsistence that failed migration is very costly. We document evidence consistent with this model using heterogeneity analysis and additional experimental variation, but calibrations with forward-looking households that can save up to migrate suggest that it is difficult for the model to quantitatively match the data. We conclude with extensions to the model that could provide a better quantitative accounting of the behavior.

JEL-codes: J61 O1 O15 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-mig
Note: DEV LS
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (253)

Published as Gharad Bryan & Shyamal Chowdhury & Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, 2014. "Underinvestment in a Profitable Technology: The Case of Seasonal Migration in Bangladesh," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82, pages 1671-1748, 09.

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Journal Article: Underinvestment in a Profitable Technology: The Case of Seasonal Migration in Bangladesh (2014)
Journal Article: Underinvestment in a Profitable Technology: The Case of Seasonal Migration in Bangladesh (2014)
Working Paper: Underinvestment in a profitable technology: the case of seasonal migration in Bangladesh (2014)
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