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IZA Discussion Paper No. 18912
September 2026
Barriers to Labor Migration for the Rural Poor

Migration into stable urban manufacturing jobs offers large returns, yet rural-to-urban migration remains limited in developing countries. Using a field experiment in Bangladesh, we sequentially relax constraints on information, skills, liquidity, and migration risk for poor rural youth seeking jobs in the urban apparel sector. Information and training alone have limited effects. By contrast, combining training with a stipend, paid internship, and transition support increases migration, employment, and earnings, reduces poverty, and produces intra-household spillovers. We find that reducing job-search uncertainty and migration risk is central to labor-market entry, and skills-training programs may require complementary financing, migration assistance, and job-search support for scalable impacts.

Kommunikation
Mark Fallak
mark.fallak@liser.lu
+352 585-855-526
World of Labour
Olga Nottmeyer
olga.nottmeyer-ext@liser.lu
+352 585-855-501
Netzwerkkoordination
Christina Gathmann
christina.gathmann@liser.lu

Das IZA@LISER-Netzwerk ist eine weltweite Gemeinschaft für exzellente Forschung in der Arbeitsmarktökonomie und angrenzenden Fachgebieten. Nach dem Wechsel von Bonn wird das Netzwerk nun am Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) koordiniert.

Über das IZA@LISER Network
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