Political Consequences of South-South Migration: Evidence from a Field Experiment

• In Event: Political Economy of Globalization in South Asia

Abstract

Many scholars theorize that the experience of migrating abroad impacts the political and social attitudes and behaviors of migrants. Migrants interact with different forms of governments, economies, and policy milieus, which in turn may change their orientation toward their home governments. Being exposed to new cultures may also alter their preferences toward a host of social issues. Yet these effects are difficult to assess empirically because individuals who migrate tend to be systematically different from those who choose to remain at home, confounding comparisons between migrants and non-migrants. Additionally, most work on migration focuses on long-term migrants to Western democracies, which does not reflect rapidly growing shorter-term labor migration flows to countries in the Global South that have markedly different institutional and cultural profiles. We conduct an innovative field experiment in Northeast India in conjunction with a state government that has sought to promote employment opportunities in the Persian Gulf region. Candidates who were interested in pursuing jobs abroad were randomly selected for a hospitality-sector employment training and recruitment program. We compare the outcomes of treatment and control individuals before selection to the program and after migration a year later in order to track effects on economic outcomes as well as on political behavior and attitudes. With respect to domestic politics, we analyze whether the experience of migrating leads individuals to be more active in political participation back home. We also evaluate the social consequences of migration, studying whether the experience of living abroad leads individuals to become more cosmopolitan and less ethnocentric. Our research design allows us to study precisely how opportunities for international employment can change individuals’ political attitudes and behaviors and offers the first experimental evidence on the consequences of migration in the Global South.

Authors

• Nikhar Gaikwad, Columbia University

• Kolby Hanson, Naval War College

• Aliz Toth, Stanford University