Labor Migration, Capital Accumulation, and the Structure of Rural Labor Markets / Taryn Dinkelman, Grace Kumchulesi, Martine Mariotti.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dinkelman, Taryn.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Kumchulesi, Grace.

Mariotti, Martine.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w32144.

NBER working paper series no. w32144

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2024.

Summary:

Between 1967 and 1974, a bilateral treaty increased circular labor migration from Malawi to South Africa by 200%, bringing over 53 million USD in earnings into origin communities. A deadly migrant worker plane crash in 1974 ended these flows and led to migrant repatriation. We study how this shock affected local labor markets. In regions receiving more migrant capital after the crash, workers, particularly women, shifted from farming into non-farm work over thirty years. Investments in non-farm physical and human capital contribute to these sectoral changes. This natural experiment shows that temporary capital inflows can permanently reshape rural labor markets.

Notes:

Print version record

February 2024.