Data and Code for: [Returns to International Migration: Evidence from a Bangladesh-Malaysia Visa Lottery]

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Maheshwor Shrestha, The World Bank; Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, Yale University; Iffath Sharif, The World Bank

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  data 09/19/2022 10:06:PM
  output 09/19/2022 11:42:PM
  programs 03/17/2023 02:14:PM
readme.pdf application/pdf 274.6 KB 03/17/2023 10:08:AM

Project Citation: 

Shrestha, Maheshwor, Mobarak, Ahmed Mushfiq, and Sharif, Iffath. Data and Code for: [Returns to International Migration: Evidence from a Bangladesh-Malaysia Visa Lottery]. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2023. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2023-09-12. https://doi.org/10.3886/E174281V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary South Asians working temporarily in richer Asian nations is the world's largest international migration corridor. We track down 3,512 (of 1.4 million) applicants to a government lottery that randomly allocated visas to Bangladeshis for low-skilled, temporary labor contracts in Malaysia, five years after the lottery. Most lottery winners migrate and migrants' earnings triple. Their remittance raises their family's standard of living in Bangladesh. The migrant's absence pauses marriage and childbirth, and shifts decision-making power towards females. Migration removes enterprising individuals, lowering household entrepreneurship, but does not crowd out other family members' labor supply. One group of applicants were offered deferred migration that never materialized. Improved migration prospects induce pre-migration investments in skills that generate no returns in the domestic market.
Funding Sources:  View help for Funding Sources World Bank. Rapid Social Response Multi-Donor Trust Fund; World Bank. Research Support Budget

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms Visa Lottery; International Migration; low skilled migration
JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      F22 International Migration
      O12 Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
      O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage Bangladesh
Collection Date(s):  View help for Collection Date(s) 8/2018 – 12/2018
Universe:  View help for Universe Applicants to the Bangladesh-Malaysia G2G program
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) survey data

Methodology

Sampling:  View help for Sampling 1. Dhaka, Mymensingh, and Chittagong Divisions selected for the study.
2. Random selection of 49 out of 223 Upazilas in the selected Divisions.
3. Survey fieldwork in all 522 Unions of the selected Upazilas. 
4. Lottery winners and losers tracked in field based on administrative data collected at the time of the lottery. 
Data Source:  View help for Data Source Survey data collected by Innovations for Poverty Action - Bangladesh under contract from the World Bank and supervision of the coauthors.
Collection Mode(s):  View help for Collection Mode(s) computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI); face-to-face interview; on-site questionnaire
Weights:  View help for Weights A weight variable is provided with the data.
Unit(s) of Observation:  View help for Unit(s) of Observation Lottery applicant, Household, Non-applicant family members
Geographic Unit:  View help for Geographic Unit Union

Related Publications

Download this project

Published Versions

V1 [2023-09-12]

Export Metadata

Dublin Core

DDI 2.5

Report a Problem

Found a serious problem with the data, such as disclosure risk or copyrighted content? Let us know.

This material is distributed exactly as it arrived from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed this material. Users should consult the investigator(s) if further information is desired.