Mobile Phone Network and Migration: Evidence From Myanmar

This International Migration Review research note explores the effect of the expansion of mobile phone networks on migration decisions in Myanmar. Building on the work of scholars in economics, the empirical strategy uses variation in lightning frequency across space as an instrumental variable for...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe International migration review Vol. 56; no. 2; pp. 594 - 614
Main Authors Hombrados, Jorge G., Ciacci, Riccardo, Zainudeen, Ayesha
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.06.2022
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Cell phones
Cellular telephones
Frequency variation
International migration
Labor market
Labor migration
Migration
Mobile phones
Networks
Probability
Telephone communications
Telephones
Villages
Well being
Myanmar (Burma)
migration
L96
O53
labor market outcomes
mobile phones
F22
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Summary:This International Migration Review research note explores the effect of the expansion of mobile phone networks on migration decisions in Myanmar. Building on the work of scholars in economics, the empirical strategy uses variation in lightning frequency across space as an instrumental variable for the expansion of mobile phone networks. Our results suggest that villages with longer exposure to mobile phone networks exhibit reductions in out-migration. Specifically, an increase of one standard deviation in the time exposed to mobile phone networks diminishes the probability that household members migrate by 17 percent. We find empirical evidence suggesting that such findings are driven by the positive effects of mobile phone networks on labor market outcomes and the perceived well-being of individuals.
ISSN:0197-9183
1747-7379
DOI:10.1177/01979183211041030