Migration and educational attainment: Empirical findings from Ethiopia

An important aspect of the dynamics of international migration is the effect on educational attainment of members left behind in the origin country. A priori, one can expect both positive and negative effects of migration on education on other members of the household. Migrations can through remittances increase household income and reduce budget constraints that enable the household members left in the household to devote more time and spending on education. On the other hand, with fewer members in working age in the household the remaining members might be required to devote more time to work within the household or the labor market. Furthermore, the psychological cost of migration of a household member can also affect the motivation and educational achievements of household members left behind, particularly in the case of parental migration.

This paper investigates the effects of migration of children of the household head on school attainment of remaining siblings in the household in Ethiopia. I use a recently conducted migration household survey and apply a household fixed effects model, making use of the variation in sbilings' age at the time of migration, to control for unobserved, time-invariant household characteristics.

Note: Work in progress, no results avaiable