The Effect of Male Migration for Work on Employment Patterns of Females in Nepal

This paper assesses the impact of
work-related migration by males on the labor market behavior
of females in Nepal. Using data from the 2004 Nepal
household survey, the authors apply the Instrumental
Variable Full Information Maximum Likelihood method to
account for unobserved factors that could simultaneously
affect males' decision to migrate and females'
decision to participate in the labor market. The results
indicate that male migration for work has a negative impact
on the level of market work participation by the women left
behind. The authors find evidence of substantial
heterogeneity (based both on observable and unobservable
characteristics) in the impact of male migration. The
findings highlight the important gender dimension of the
impact of predominantly male worker migration on the
wellbeing of sending households. The authors argue that
strategies for economic development in Nepal should take
into account such gender aspects of the migration dynamics.