The Impact of Migration on the Welfare of Households Left Behind in Rural Ghana: A Quasi-Experimental Impact Evaluation

Abstract

Using panel data collected in 2015 and 2018, this paper employs econometric techniques to evaluate the impact of migration on the welfare of households left behind in rural Ghana. We find that poverty is an important driver of migration. Households with lower baseline food and nonfood consumption are more likely to have a member migrating over the three-year period of the study. Specifically, households with migrants had a lower level of consumption at baseline compared to non-migrant households. Using both propensity score matching (PSM) and difference-in-differences (DID) estimation approaches to explore migration’s welfare impact, we find no significant differences between treated and control households once initial baseline differences in consumption are accounted for. Our results suggest that migration has helped to bridge the gap in welfare between disadvantaged (low consumption) and advantaged (higher consumption) households in rural Ghana.