Income aspirations, migration, and investments on and off the farm: Evidence from rural Tajikistan
In places with few casual or salaried employment opportunities, investments in farm or non-farm assets may offer the main pathway to increased incomes locally, whereas others may seek alternative investment options elsewhere—as migrants. What factors, then, explain these investment choices? One theo...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Artículo preliminar |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
International Food Policy Research Institute
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140330 |
| _version_ | 1855523797755494400 |
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| author | Bloem, Jeffrey R. Lambrecht, Isabel B. |
| author_browse | Bloem, Jeffrey R. Lambrecht, Isabel B. |
| author_facet | Bloem, Jeffrey R. Lambrecht, Isabel B. |
| author_sort | Bloem, Jeffrey R. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | In places with few casual or salaried employment opportunities, investments in farm or non-farm assets may offer the main pathway to increased incomes locally, whereas others may seek alternative investment options elsewhere—as migrants. What factors, then, explain these investment choices? One theory suggests that aspirations that are ahead, but not too far ahead, of current levels provide the best incentive for promoting investment. If this theory holds, then estimates of the relationship between the aspirations gap and investment choices should take the form of a non-monotonic inverted U-shape. We test for such a relationship between the income aspirations gap and investments in migration, farm assets, and non-farm assets using data from a household survey in rural Tajikistan. We find evidence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between the income aspirations gap and measures of migration, with the strongest relationship found with international migration. Strikingly, we do not observe any association between the income aspirations gap and measures of investment in farm or non-farm assets. Exploring heterogeneity, we find that these results can vary by household poverty status and by the respondent’s gender. Investigating a possible mechanism, we find that the relationship between the income aspirations gap and migration seems to be driven by remittances, which outweigh migration costs and increase household income. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace140330 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1403302025-12-02T21:02:52Z Income aspirations, migration, and investments on and off the farm: Evidence from rural Tajikistan Bloem, Jeffrey R. Lambrecht, Isabel B. income gender investment remittances agriculture livelihoods farms migration poverty In places with few casual or salaried employment opportunities, investments in farm or non-farm assets may offer the main pathway to increased incomes locally, whereas others may seek alternative investment options elsewhere—as migrants. What factors, then, explain these investment choices? One theory suggests that aspirations that are ahead, but not too far ahead, of current levels provide the best incentive for promoting investment. If this theory holds, then estimates of the relationship between the aspirations gap and investment choices should take the form of a non-monotonic inverted U-shape. We test for such a relationship between the income aspirations gap and investments in migration, farm assets, and non-farm assets using data from a household survey in rural Tajikistan. We find evidence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between the income aspirations gap and measures of migration, with the strongest relationship found with international migration. Strikingly, we do not observe any association between the income aspirations gap and measures of investment in farm or non-farm assets. Exploring heterogeneity, we find that these results can vary by household poverty status and by the respondent’s gender. Investigating a possible mechanism, we find that the relationship between the income aspirations gap and migration seems to be driven by remittances, which outweigh migration costs and increase household income. 2023-12-07 2024-03-14T12:09:20Z 2024-03-14T12:09:20Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140330 en https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12785 https://doi.org/10.1111/ecot.12302 https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134858 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151061 https://doi.org/10.1177/01979183251343885 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Bloem, Jeffrey R.; and Lambrecht, Isabel. 2023. Income aspirations, migration, and investments on and off the farm: Evidence from rural Tajikistan. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2209. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.137012. |
| spellingShingle | income gender investment remittances agriculture livelihoods farms migration poverty Bloem, Jeffrey R. Lambrecht, Isabel B. Income aspirations, migration, and investments on and off the farm: Evidence from rural Tajikistan |
| title | Income aspirations, migration, and investments on and off the farm: Evidence from rural Tajikistan |
| title_full | Income aspirations, migration, and investments on and off the farm: Evidence from rural Tajikistan |
| title_fullStr | Income aspirations, migration, and investments on and off the farm: Evidence from rural Tajikistan |
| title_full_unstemmed | Income aspirations, migration, and investments on and off the farm: Evidence from rural Tajikistan |
| title_short | Income aspirations, migration, and investments on and off the farm: Evidence from rural Tajikistan |
| title_sort | income aspirations migration and investments on and off the farm evidence from rural tajikistan |
| topic | income gender investment remittances agriculture livelihoods farms migration poverty |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140330 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bloemjeffreyr incomeaspirationsmigrationandinvestmentsonandoffthefarmevidencefromruraltajikistan AT lambrechtisabelb incomeaspirationsmigrationandinvestmentsonandoffthefarmevidencefromruraltajikistan |