Migration and Informal Insurance: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial and a Structural Model

S-Tier
Journal: Review of Economic Studies
Year: 2022
Volume: 89
Issue: 1
Pages: 452-480

Authors (4)

Costas Meghir (not in RePEc) A Mushfiq Mobarak (not in RePEc) Corina Mommaerts (University of Wisconsin-Madiso...) Melanie Morten (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 4 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We document that an experimental intervention offering transport subsidies for poor rural households to migrate seasonally in Bangladesh improved risk sharing. A theoretical model of endogenous migration and risk sharing shows that the effect of subsidizing migration depends on the underlying economic environment. If migration is risky, a temporary subsidy can induce an improvement in risk sharing and enable profitable migration. We estimate the model and find that the migration experiment increased welfare by 12.9%. Counterfactual analysis suggests that a permanent, rather than temporary, decline in migration costs in the same environment would result in a reduction in risk sharing.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:restud:v:89:y:2022:i:1:p:452-480.
Journal Field
General
Author Count
4
Added to Database
2026-01-26