Publication: Migration and Inequality
Loading...
Files in English
10,265 downloads
Published
2005
ISSN
Date
2012-06-26
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
International migration is a powerful symbol of global inequality, whether in terms of wages, labor market opportunities, or lifestyles. Millions of workers and their families move each year across borders and across continents, seeking to reduce what they see as the gap between their own position and that of people in other, wealthier, places. There is a growing consensus in the development field that migration, including international, permanent, temporary and seasonal migration, represents an important livelihood diversification strategy for many in the world's poorest nations. The paper argues that inequality needs to be defined in broader terms than simply income or wealth. Inequality, like poverty, is multi-dimensional, and can be measured at individual, household, regional and international levels. There are socio-cultural dimensions to inequality as well. Political, economic and social-cultural institutions play a crucial role in the way wealth, power and opportunity are distributed within societies. It should be noted that migration - and especially international migration - is an activity that carries significant risks and costs and does not necessarily reduce inequality in the way intended by many migrants.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Black, Richard; Natali, Claudia; Skinner, Jessica. 2005. Migration and Inequality. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9172 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Asset Inequality and Agricultural Growth: How Are Patterns of Asset Inequality Established and Reproduced?(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2005)The relationship between distributions of asset inequality, how these distributions are created and maintained, and agricultural growth are explored. The paper studies Ethiopian agriculture to investigate how differential access to productive assets in the agricultural sector, at various levels (regional, community and household), effect inequalities in agricultural outcomes in terms of productivity and poverty. The dominant discourse on agricultural productivity and distribution has been largely focused on input-output relationships, defined and measured with a yardstick specific to economics. In this study, the processes and institutions that link inequality and productivity are explored. In the Ethiopian case, the persistent nature of inequality is causally related to historical choices and path dependency. What is observed is a complex system whereby inequality affects growth which in turn reinforces processes that exacerbate and reproduce inequalities.Publication Inequality Is Bad for the Poor(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2005)It has been argued that inequality should be of little concern in poor countries on the grounds that 1) absolute poverty in terms of consumption (or income) is the overriding issue in poor countries and 2) the only thing that really matters to reducing absolute income poverty is the rate of economic growth. The author takes 1) as given but questions 2). He argues that there are a number of ways in which the extent of inequality in a society, and how it evolves over time, influences the extent of poverty today and the prospects for rapid poverty reduction in the future.Publication Cash Transfers for Older People Reduce Poverty and Inequality(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2004)The development of non-contributory pension program as institutions for poverty and inequality reduction in Brazil, South Africa and Bangladesh is examined.Publication The Links between Finance and Inequality: Channels and Evidence(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2005)Much attention has been given to whether market reforms reduce or increase inequality. Inequality often reflects unequal access to productive opportunities and recent evidence has highlighted the presence of onerous barriers to entry, especially in developing countries. This paper focuses on the relationships between inequality and finance. In principle, a better financial system can help overcome barriers, and thereby increase economic growth and reduce inequality. It analyzes these various channels from inequality to financial sector reform and provides (case) evidence on them. The question of, how, given initial wealth and power distributions, financial (and other) reforms could be designed to improve access and prevent perverse outcomes. It concludes that more gradual reform allowing the buildup of various types of oversight institutions is necessary for countries with high inequality.Publication What Can Economists Explain by Taking into Account People's Perceptions of Fairness? Punishing Cheats, Bargaining Impasse, and Self-Perpetuating Inequalities(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2005)A standard hypothesis in economics, the rational self-interest hypothesis, is based on a radically simplified view of human nature that says individuals are exclusively motivated by their material self-interest and unboundedly rational in the pursuit of it. Yet experimental evidence overwhelmingly refutes this hypothesis. Evidence abounds that individuals have preferences for being treated and treating others fairly. These preferences do not affect economic outcomes in competitive markets with standardized products but do affect economic outcomes in a wide variety of other settings where information is imperfect or enforcement is costly. Also discussed are 1) how preferences for fairness can solve a free rider problem, 2) the pitfalls of human concern for fairness, and 3) how extreme inequality can be perpetuated through belief systems that represent oppression as "fair".
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication The Economic Impact of International Remittances on Poverty and Household Consumption and Investment in Indonesia(2010-09-01)This paper analyzes the impact of international remittances on poverty and household consumption and investment using panel data (2000 and 2007) from the Indonesian Family Life Survey. Three key findings emerge. First, using an instrumental variables approach to control for selection and endogeneity, it finds that international remittances have a large statistical effect on reducing poverty in Indonesia. Second, households receiving remittances in 2007 spent more at the margin on one key consumption good -- food -- compared with what they would have spent on this good without the receipt of remittances. Third, households receiving remittances in 2007 spent less at the margin on one important investment good -- housing -- compared with what they would have spent on this good without the receipt of remittances. Households receiving international remittances in Indonesia are poorer than other types of households, and thus they tend to spend their remittances at the margin on consumption rather than investment goods.Publication Migration and Poverty : Toward Better Opportunities for the Poor(World Bank, 2011)Migration has historically been a source of opportunities for people to improve their lives and those of their families. Today, the large differences in income between places-particularly countries-continue to motivate individuals to escape poverty through migration. The potential advantages of migration for sending countries are numerous. Through remittances, migration provides a means of improving income and smoothing consumption; it enables households to overcome the lack of credit and cushion the risks involved in engaging in more productive activities; and migration can also act as a coping strategy in times of distress. Remittances can be spent on investments, such as housing and schooling, and directly on household consumption. Furthermore, new skills and education may be acquired at the place of destination and transferred back to the place of origin. This volume argues that although migration increases income and often reduces poverty, the migration opportunities of the poor are different-among the poor there are fewer migrants, and they travel to 'cheaper' destinations with lower returns. The main barriers to emigration encountered by the poor are lack of opportunities and high costs. This translates into lower returns and, very likely, less poverty reduction. As a result of this cyclical interconnection, the poverty-reducing potential that migration holds for developing countries is often not maximized.