Migration responses to adverse household shocks: do family relationships and types of shocks matter?

Abstract

This paper estimates how family relationships between migrants and their households affect migration and remittance responses to three different household shocks: an earthquake, the death of a family member, and livestock death. Using agricultural household panel data from El Salvador, we find that migrant responses to negative shocks change across family relationships and the type of shock. Sisters of the household head return home after an earthquake, while sons and brothers migrate away after livestock deaths, and household heads migrate away after the death of a family member. We also find that remittances received by the household significantly fall in response to earthquakes.