Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the relationship between household composition, migration prevalence and remittances using data from a structured household survey from four deltas across Ghana, Bangladesh and India to examine migration as a goal oriented form of risk diversification or a survival strategy. Additional co-author: Samuel Nii Ardey Codjoe

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines the relationship between household composition, migration prevalence and remittances. The new economics of labour migration (NELM) defines migration as a strategy that households employ to overcome constraints. Thus, migration is not the result of an individual decision; it is part of a family strategy. By having a migrant family member working away from home, a household makes an investment that is expected to be offset by the migrant's remittances. A high degree of altruism and family cohesion is needed to justify the investment in a migrant in the expectation of future remittances. Altruism tends to be more powerful among family members than among, for example, randomly assembled people. The degree of altruism, however, varies across families, being strongest in cohesive, traditional families and weaker in non-traditional families with unstable bonds. Here we hypothesise that household composition and headship directly influence migration outcomes and migrant remittances. We test these propositions by using data from a structured household survey stratified by level of exposure to environmental risks. The data are from low-lying coastal areas in four deltas across three countries, Ghana, Bangladesh and India and include variables capturing migration behaviour, migration intentions and remittances. The analysis shows that large cohesive families are likely to benefit from flows of remittances from migrants. The results reveal the role of family stability, size and cohesion in differentiating migration outcomes that tends to be a goal oriented form of risk diversification from a survival strategy.