Are young internal migrants ‘favourably’ selected? Evidence from four developing countries11

Abstract

Young people 2 are more likely to migrate than older people. During the transition to adulthood, they make important choices regarding education, labour force participation, and family formation. Using a unique panel dataset on youth born in 1994–95 in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam, this paper investigates whether young migrants are ‘positively’ self-selected in observable characteristics, specifically on educational attainment. First, I document patterns on prevalence, frequency, timing, reasons and streams of migration. Second, I describe the factors associated with young people’s reasons for migrating. Results suggest that ‘favourable’ self-selection only holds for those moving for education: a year of schooling is associated with a higher probability of moving for studies, while an extra year of education is correlated with a lower probability of moving for family formation. In sum, migrants are a heterogeneous group: there are systematic differences in the characteristics across them depending on their reasons for moving.