Temporary migration of low-skilled workers to higher income destinations can represent an investment opportunity for those who, in their home countries, cannot raise funds to start their own #business. A paper by Joseph-Simon Goerlach (LEAP Bocconi), Laurent Bossavie (World Bank), Caglar Ozden (World Bank and CReAM, IZA), and He Wang (World Bank), documented the phenomenon for workers migrating from countries in South and Southeast Asia to richer countries such as Malaysia, Singapore or nations on the Arabian Peninsula.

This form of #migration is costly and risky, but promises high returns, which often are used as capital for self-employment. Therefore, it is an essential factor for policymakers to consider when designing their interventions, such as policies aiming to boost entrepreneurship.

Bangladesh is one of the main countries of origin of international migrants, with an estimated 7.8 million Bangladeshis working abroad. International migration from Bangladesh is largely low-skilled, with men representing about 95% of migrants. The picture is similar for many other major migrant-sending countries, such as India, the Philippines, Egypt, Pakistan or Nepal.

As Professor Goerlach explains in the the third instalment of the LEAP Talks series, the data show that the median total cost of migration equals approximately three years of earnings of a wage worker in Bangladesh, or more than two years of household income. Hence most migrants have to borrow to finance their migration, but the investment pays off for many of them. In fact, they break even after little more than one year, while the median length of stay is 4.7 years.

Subscribe to our channel ➤ @UniBocconi
Visit our website: [ Ссылка ]

Follow our social media accounts:
LinkedIn ➤ [ Ссылка ]
Facebook ➤ [ Ссылка ]
Twitter ➤ [ Ссылка ]
Instagram ➤ [ Ссылка ]

#Bocconi​ #BocconiUniversity​ #UniBocconi

свернуть