Chapter 9 Human capital: Migration and rural population change

The movement of labor out of agriculture is a universal concomitant of economic modernization and growth. Traditional migration models overlook many potential interactions between migration and development. Given imperfect markets characterizing most migrant-sending areas, migration and remittances can have far-reaching impacts, both positive and negative, on incomes and production in agricultural households. Linkages through product and factor markets transmit impacts of migration from migrant-sending households to others inside and outside the rural economy. Recent theoretical and empirical studies reveal the complexity of migration determinants and impacts in rural economies, and they point to new arenas for policy intervention.