Migration and Social Networks: Evidence from Bangladesh

Abstract

Social networks play a key role in mitigating the risks of migration, with migrants typically making use of network and kinship capital in the decision of whether to migrate and to which destination. This paper adds to the empirical literature on the role of networks in migration decisions in Bangladesh using household survey data collected in Bangladesh in 2013. Our survey captures information on households and their migrant and resident members, migrant destinations and contacts at their destination. We distinguish between internal networks and international networks and analyse the importance of these in affecting the migration decision and destination choice. We also explore the gender dimensions of these decisions, finding that while male migration decisions are very sensitive to the existence and nature (internal or international), and even suggestive of a step-migration patterns of rural to urban to international destinations, women’s migration decisions are much more influenced by household characterises, such as household wealth.