Book Description

"This paper revisits the decades-old relative deprivation theory of migration. In contrast to the traditional view that portrays absolute income maximization as a driver of migration, we test whether relative deprivation induces migration in the context of sub-Saharan Africa. Taking advantage of the internationally comparable longitudinal data from integrated household and agriculture surveys from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda, we use panel fixed effects to estimate the effects of relative deprivation on migration. We find that a household's migration decision is based not only on its well-being status, but also on the relative position of the household in the well-being distribution of the local community. Relative deprivation of wealth was positively associated with migration and migration increased with the absolute level of wealth. These results are robust to alternative specifications including pooled data across the five countries, and the 'migration-relative deprivation' relationship is amplified in rural, agricultural and male-headed households. Results imply a need to renew the discussion of relative deprivation as a cause of migration"--Page 5.