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- Convenors:
-
Neha Hui
(University of Reading)
Sarah Edewor (Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Nigeria)
Ben Lampert (The Open University)
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- Formats:
- Papers
- Stream:
- Mobilities, Migration and Development
- Location:
- Christodoulou Meeting Rooms East, Room 11
- Sessions:
- Thursday 20 June, -, -, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
The panel seeks papers on theoretical, empirical and policy analysis of large-scale migration and development from historical & contemporary contexts. We invite papers on the development impact of mass migration and remittances at micro and macro levels in both ‘home’ and ‘host’ countries.
Long Abstract:
Large-scale migration has long term impacts on the economic, infrastructural and cultural development of the world. Evidence of mass migrations goes back to prehistoric times with inter and intra country mass migrations occurring historically because of colonial displacement, wars, famines, religious persecution and forced labour.
This panel seeks to examine the short and long-term impacts of large-scale migration on growth and development in both ‘host’ and ‘home’ countries. The panel seeks papers that go beyond the income effects of migrant remittances to also address how migration affects the quality of growth, particularly in relation to the multiple dimensions of poverty and inequality stressed in notions of inclusive growth. For example, how is growth facilitated by migration inclusive in terms of changing gender dynamics, fostering entrepreneurship and supporting psycho-social well-being?
The panel will accept papers on the theoretical, empirical and policy analysis of migrations from, to and within developing countries. The key questions will include: what were the pull and push factors of such large-scale migrations and how have they been shaped by policy? How does such migration contribute to growth and development and what are the implications for inclusivity? What are the remittance impacts, especially on poverty, food security and other broader aspects of well-being? We hope to approach journals like Journal of Development Studies or Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies for a special issue based on the panel provided that the quality of submissions is strong enough.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Thursday 20 June, 2019, -Paper short abstract:
We look at the policies on indentured labour migration following the abolition of slavery from British Colonies. We find that unfree migration was facilitated within a policy discourse of economic and individual freedom & was a significant contributor to colonial revenue, sugar trade & consumption.
Paper long abstract:
When slavery was abolished in the British Colonies, a new form of unfree labour migration was facilitated and encouraged by the British Government in the form of indentured labour migration from British India. This form of migration came about in a period when the discourse of economic freedom and individual liberty strongly resonated in the British academia especially in the works of Adam Smith and J S Mill. Indentured labour migration was hugely contentious, with active promotion from the Colonial (especially West Indian) plantation lobby but significantly opposed by the abolitionist movement as well as nationalist movement from both the Indian sub-continent and natives from the host colonies. In this paper we analyse why partially un-free migration in the form of indentured labour coexisted with the rhetoric of freedom that was essential to the political economy of the time. Using historical archival material including India Office Records, Colonial Office Records, Hansard notes, newspaper coverage, Colonial 'Blue Books' as well as original works by important political economic thinkers of the time, we argue that indenture labour migration was an 'in between' of slavery and free labour migration and could be justified in the language of economic freedom, though not necessarily in terms of individual liberty.This argument is especially validated by the fact that indentured labour migration had a significant impact on colonial revenue as well as sugar trade and consumption thus contradicting the idea that un-free labour was inefficient.
Paper short abstract:
This research examines the migration of Korean Chinese from Northeast China to South Korea. Accepted as temporary migrant workers, rather than as lawful returnees to the ethnic homeland, Korean Chinese migrants call Northeast China, not the Korean Peninsula, the "true" homeland of "true" Koreans.
Paper long abstract:
Since the early 1990s, when the end of the Cold War brought the governments of China and South Korea together to formalize diplomatic relations, a little less than one million ethnic Koreans, mostly former farmers, have migrated from Northeast China to South Korea, the southern half of their ancestral homeland. Accepted as temporary migrant workers, rather than as lawful returnees to the ethnic homeland, most Korean Chinese migrants work in services or construction and earn significantly more as compared to those who stay back. For almost three decades now, their remittances have led to substantial improvements in the socioeconomic status of migrant families in Northeast China's ethnic Korean communities. While acknowledging the benefits of their migration for the family back home, in my personal interviews with Korean Chinese migrants in both host and home places, they have been engaged in a developing narrative in which Northeast China, not the Korean Peninsula, has increasingly become the "true" homeland of "true" Koreans. This research argues that the returnees' narrative of a true Korean homeland in Northeast China reflects their defiant response to being othered by South Korean natives and ability to redefine their relationship with them, as well as the historical and continuing geopolitical tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Their intended re-return to the true homeland sheds light on the shifting meanings of and relationships between homeland, nation and diaspora.
Paper short abstract:
This study utilizes a social capital theoretical lens to critically examine how African migrants in North West, England navigate mainstream networks within the context of the UK as a host country.
Paper long abstract:
Extant literature on migrant entrepreneurs (MEs) suggests that MEs embed themselves with the co-ethnic diaspora network as they overcome the liabilities associated with during business in a New Immigration Destination (NID). However, MEs embeddedness in the diaspora co-ethnic networks in the NID face some limitations. Over-embeddedness in co-ethnic networks can stifle the innovative capabilities of migrant entrepreneurs (Bagwell, 2008). Kitching et al. (2009) note that embeddedness co-ethnic networks solely are not sufficient for the long-term survival and expansion of TEs cross-border businesses. Echoing this position at the firm level, Tolstoy (2018) finds that network embeddedness can potentially limit SMEs' scope of strategic actions. Although scholarly work has emphasized the importance of MEs co-ethnic networks and how MEs gain access into the co-ethnic network in the host country. Yet, there is a limited understanding as to how MEs move on from a position of co-ethnic network embeddedness in the NID to a position where they gain insidership of mainstream networks in the host country. This study seeks to address this gap. Our overarching aim is to help provide new insights and identify innovative strategies that could help current and future African transitional entrepreneurs make a better integration in the UK.
Paper short abstract:
Internal migration is a significant phenomenon in Uganda and remittances are common. A new social pension may impact on resource allocation within 'multi-local' households containing migrants. Qualitative methods were used to explore effects on financial remittances and the well-being of pensioners.
Paper long abstract:
Internal migration is a significant phenomenon in Uganda. Over a quarter of households receive remittances from internal migrants, with both rural and urban migrants primarily remitting to rural family members. The Senior Citizens Grant (SCG), a non-contributory social pension, is currently being rolled out across rural Districts in the country. Evidence from a range of contexts suggests that social pensions may have significant impacts at the household level, including on the migration choices of household members and resource allocation within 'multi-local' households containing migrants. Social pensions may thus have distinctive effects on intra-household dynamics in 'multi-local' households and, in turn, consequences for the well-being of pensioners at sites of origin. This paper presents the findings from a qualitative study carried out in one district of Uganda to explore these issues. Households were found to be highly complex and 'multi-local' in character, and the pension operates alongside a varied landscape of informal forms of solidarity and support. The SCG was perceived to have little direct effect on migration decisions - including whether to leave children in the care of grandparents - but opinions differed between migrants and pensioners over the impact on financial remittances, with gender a key factor in responses on this issue. In the context of high rates of in-migration to the district, pensioners' perspectives on migration strategies at the household level - and the effects of these on their own well-being - were also framed by their own (positive or negative) experiences of migration.
Paper short abstract:
This paper considered domestic remittances among rural households in Nigeria and studied its effects on household food security and expenditure-utilization pattern likewise the sources, types, and regularity of receipt of remittances by the rural households were considered in this study.
Paper long abstract:
As a result of migration, the positive reward which is remittance viewed as extra income inflow into the recipient household has the ability to sustain and develop the rural households in Nigeria. This study assessed the effect of domestic remittances on expenditure shares and food security of rural households in South-West Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select rural households. Descriptive statistics, Food Security Scale (FSS), 2-Stage Heckman Regression model and Multinomial Logit Regression were used to analyse the data. Result from this study discovered that more than half of the household heads were male, married, had at least primary education and received domestic remittances mostly quarterly either through personal delivery or other means. Main type of domestic remittance received by majority the rural households was cash remittance, with a few receiving non-cash remittance, while other households received both cash and non-cash remittances. Remittance utilization was mainly on farm investments while the Food Security Scale (FSS) revealed that lesser households were food secured, few of the rural households were food insecure without/moderate hunger and most households were food insecure with severe hunger. . Multinomial Logit Regression model showed that remittance reduced the risk of a household being food insecure with severe hunger. The Two-stage Heckman Regression model revealed that increase in the receipt of remittance would increase expenditure share of the rural households on farm investment, health and education. This study has found a positive influence on the welfare of recipients of domestic remittances in rural Nigeria.
Paper short abstract:
The study examines spatial inequality using current shifts in employment seeking behavior and welfare predilection of youth in Ghana. Using data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey 6 and 7, we highlight an emerging socio-economic inequality which is influenced by the ethnicity and spatial identity.
Paper long abstract:
This paper explores the impacts of spatial inequality and associated internal migration. The study examines current shifts in labour/employment seeking behavior and welfare predilection of African youth using Ghana as a case study. The process is perceived to have been deepened by Neoliberal Programmes and the continued adoption of extensive market liberalization and associated fiscal policies. This study utilizes data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey 6 (2012) and 7 (2017), involving longitudinal survey of a nationwide sample of 18,000 households. This analysis focuses on four of the ten administrative regions in Ghana that record the highest number of internal migrants: Greater Accra, Western, Brong Ahafo and Ashanti regions. The study shows that employment rates amongst migrant youth in urban destinations remain comparatively higher than those of non-migrants. Out migration therefore provides an avenue for rural unemployed youth to gain access to wider employment opportunities. Levels of employment satisfaction reported by the sample also indicates youth migrants have higher levels of contentment with the jobs they find in their urban destinations. Conversely, young migrants are often engaged in less stable, non-contract, non-unionized jobs, making them vulnerable to employer abuses and exploitation. The paper also highlights an emerging socio-economic inequality which is influenced by the ethnicity and spatial identity of young migrants. To address this form of spatial discrepancy, the paper recommends geographical targeting of poverty reduction initiatives and the introduction of job centres, basic income guarantee programmes, health insurance subsidies benefits for young migrants and rapid rural industrialisation in Ghana.
Paper short abstract:
Based on a multi-sited ethnography and qualitative methods in Mexico in two indigenous communities, this article explores the ways in which migration and remittances transform customary governance and ideas of social mobility of youths who received the conditional cash transfer programme Prospera.
Paper long abstract:
In a context of increased efforts to expand school enrolment and future labour opportunities, individual aspirations of rural youths do not necessarily align with governmental intended outcomes. This paper aims to contribute with the question of 'How does migration contribute to growth and development and what are the implications for inclusivity?'. Based on a multi-sited ethnography and qualitative methods in Mexico in two indigenous communities of Oaxaca, this article explores the ways in which migration and remittances, both domestic and international, transform customary governance and the ideas of social mobility of indigenous youths who received the conditional cash transfer programme Prospera, then known as Progresa/Oportunidades. Theoretically, the paper demonstrates that more years of education does not guarantee aspirations to continue studying as interpretations and perceptions of social mobility, influenced by the reception of remittances, are not necessarily founded in a causal link between education and professional jobs, as the logic behind conditional cash transfers and their focus on inclusive growth assume. Indeed, the outcome of the cash transfer was mediated by what the individual household and community considered as the means to achieve social mobility, which differed across the two main localities of study and their use of remittances. The paper contributes to efforts of understanding the complex relationship between conditional cash transfers and remittances at the individual, household and community levels.
Paper short abstract:
This paper examines the impact of migration on the economic wellbeing of origin households in rural India. Findings show while socially high-ranked long-term migrant-sending households have higher consumption growth and better food security, it is insignificant for short term migrant households.
Paper long abstract:
Internal migration accounts for a large share of the overall migration in the world. Contrary to the neoclassical theory assumption of independent and permanent migration of surplus labour, the process and interlinkages between migration and development is complex and depends upon socio-cultural-regional factors. Labour migration and share of remittances in household earnings have increased over the past decade. Though long-term migration and remittances are the most common channels through which places of origin benefit from migration, they are inadequately captured in data, and other channels are ignored. A substantial share of internal migration is short-term/ seasonal and studies have noted various links between migrants and origin households. This paper using the IHDS panel data analyses the impact of different types of migration on the economic wellbeing of origin households in rural India during 2004 to 2011. Economic wellbeing is captured through monthly per capita income, consumption expenditure, food expenditure and non-food expenditure. Logistic model and Initial Fixed Effect model with DID specification are used for the analysis. Preliminary observation indicates that socially higher-ranked groups are more likely to have long-term migrants while short-term migration is more likely for lower-ranked groups. Also, mean difference indicates significant upward economic mobility for both short-term and long-term migrant households. However, controlling for the other factors shows that long-term migrant-sending households have higher income and consumption growth, better food security and higher investment in non-food items, while the effect is insignificant for short term migrant households and negative for tribal groups.