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When Distance Drives Destination, Towns Can Stimulate Development

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  • De Weerdt,Joachim
  • Christiaensen,Luc
  • Kanbur,Ravi
Abstract
While city migrants see their welfare increase much more than those moving to towns, many more rural-urban migrants end up in towns. This phenomenon, documented in detail in Kagera, Tanzania, begs the question why migrants move to seemingly suboptimal destinations. Using an 18-year panel of individuals from this region and information on the possible destinations from the census, this study documents, through dyadic regressions and controlling for individual heterogeneity, how the deterrence of further distance to cities (compared to towns) largely trumps the attraction from their promise of greater wealth, making towns more appealing destinations. Education mitigates these effects (lesser deterrence from distance, greater attraction from wealth), while poverty reduces the attraction of wealth, consistent with the notion of urban sorting. With about two-thirds of the rural population in low-income countries living within two hours from a town, these findings underscore the importance of vibrant towns for inclusive development.

Suggested Citation

  • De Weerdt,Joachim & Christiaensen,Luc & Kanbur,Ravi, 2021. "When Distance Drives Destination, Towns Can Stimulate Development," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9622, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9622
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Basu, Arnab K. & Chau, Nancy H. & Lin, Gary C., 2022. "Migration Gravity, Networks, and Unemployment," IZA Discussion Papers 15808, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inequality; Educational Sciences; Urban Governance and Management; Urban Housing and Land Settlements; Municipal Management and Reform; Urban Housing; Energy and Mining; Health Care Services Industry;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

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