Fears and Tears: Should More People Be Moving within and from Developing Countries, and What Stops this Movement?

doi:10.1093/wbro/lkac009

Publication:
Fears and Tears: Should More People Be Moving within and from Developing Countries, and What Stops this Movement?

dc.contributor.author	McKenzie, David
dc.date.accessioned	2024-03-25T16:13:52Z
dc.date.available	2024-03-25T16:13:52Z
dc.date.issued	2023-01-10
dc.description.abstract	Only one in seven of the world’s population have ever migrated, despite the enormous gains in income possible through international and internal movement. The author examines the evidence for different explanations given in the economics literature for this lack of movement and their implications for policy. Incorrect information about the gains to migrating, liquidity constraints that prevent poor people paying the costs of moving, and high costs of movement arising from both physical transportation costs and policy barriers all inhibit movement and offer scope for policy efforts to inform, provide credit, and lower moving costs. However, the economics literature has paid less attention to the fears people have when faced with the uncertainty of moving to a new place, and to the reasons behind the tears they shed when moving. While these tears reveal the attachment people have to particular places, this attachment is not fixed, but itself changes with migration experiences. Psychological factors such as a bias toward the status quo and the inability to picture what one is giving up by not migrating can result in people not moving, even when they would benefit from movement and are not constrained by finances or policy barriers from doing so. This suggests new avenues for policy interventions that can help individuals better visualize the opportunity costs of not moving, alleviate their uncertainties, and help shift their default behavior from not migrating.	en
dc.identifier	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099232102022440417/IDU1552a8a5117ce01478e1adea116cf5a0d74fb
dc.identifier.citation	The World Bank Research Observer
dc.identifier.doi	10.1596/41268
dc.identifier.issn	0257-3032 (print)
dc.identifier.issn	1564-6971 (online)
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10986/41268
dc.language	English
dc.language.iso	en_US
dc.publisher	Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank
dc.relation.ispartofseries	World Bank Research Observer
dc.rights	CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holder	World Bank
dc.rights.uri	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/
dc.subject	INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION
dc.subject	INTERNAL MIGRATION
dc.subject	CONSTRAINTS ON MOVEMENT
dc.subject	UNCERTAINTY
dc.subject	STATUS QUO BIAS
dc.title	Fears and Tears	en
dc.title.subtitle	Should More People Be Moving within and from Developing Countries, and What Stops this Movement?	en
dc.type	Journal Article
dspace.entity.type	Publication
okr.crossref.title	Fears and Tears: Should More People Be Moving within and from Developing Countries, and What Stops this Movement?
okr.date.disclosure	2024-03-25
okr.date.lastmodified	2024-02-02T00:00:00Z	en
okr.doctype	Journal Article
okr.doctype	Publications & Research
okr.docurl	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099232102022440417/IDU1552a8a5117ce01478e1adea116cf5a0d74fb
okr.guid	099232102022440417
okr.identifier.docmid	IDU-552a8a51-7ce0-478e-adea-16cf5a0d74fb
okr.identifier.doi	10.1093/wbro/lkac009
okr.identifier.doi	https://doi.org/10.1596/41268
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum	34250888
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum	34250888
okr.identifier.report	187530
okr.import.id	3584
okr.imported	true	en
okr.language.supported	en
okr.pagenumber	75-96
okr.pdfurl	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099232102022440417/pdf/IDU1552a8a5117ce01478e1adea116cf5a0d74fb.pdf	en
okr.peerreview	Academic Peer Review
okr.region.geographical	World
okr.topic	International Economics and Trade::International Migration
okr.topic	Communities and Human Settlements::Human Migrations & Resettlements
okr.topic	Social Development::Voluntary and Involuntary Resettlement
okr.unit	DECRG: Finance & Priv Sec Devt (DECFP)
okr.volume	39 (1)
relation.isJournalIssueOfPublication	9e9964ca-ce22-4b67-9d18-d503b407185e
relation.isJournalIssueOfPublication.latestForDiscovery	9e9964ca-ce22-4b67-9d18-d503b407185e
relation.isJournalOfPublication	9e5fbe82-492f-4142-8378-17d50245d9de
relation.isJournalVolumeOfPublication	fbbdbd74-015d-4dca-8d68-eb9588330540