This paper investigates the relationship between intergenerational social mobility, migration aspirations, and participation in political demonstrations. Using individual-level data from the Latinobar & oacute;metro between 2002 and 2023, we show that individuals experiencing negative intergenerational educational mobility are more likely to express a desire to migrate and to participate into peaceful protests, whereas those with positive mobility exhibit the opposite pattern. Our analysis further suggests that the decision to migrate and to protest may be shaped by a common underlying decision process. Finally, we find that confidence in political institutions and positive economic expectations substantially mitigate expressions of social discontent in the form of migration aspirations and protest participation. Overall, the results indicate that unequal opportunities across generations are an important determinant of both migration intentions and political engagement.
This study examines the impact of the world's largest humanitarian unconditional cash transfer program targeting refugees-the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) program-on child nutrition and growth outcomes. Using the 2018 Turkey Demographic and Health Survey, which includes a representative sample of Syrian refugees, and employing a regression discontinuity design, this paper assesses the program's effects on child growth-measured by height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-age (WAZ), and weight-for-height (WHZ), including their extreme values-and on child-level nutrition, measured across five major food categories. The paper finds that receiving cash transfers increases HAZ by 0.6 to 0.8 standard deviations. Additionally, the transfers reduce the incidence of both underweight and overweight status based on WAZ scores. WHZ scores and the incidence of overweight status based on WHZ also decline. Examining the program's impact on nutrition, the study finds a significant reduction in children's energy-dense, nutrient-poor food consumption, consistent with the decrease in overweight incidence. Overall, the ESSN program improves food consumption patterns among refugees, leading to better child growth outcomes.
One in five refugees live in camps or camp-like settings, and three-quarters of encamped refugees are in sub-Saharan Africa. No reliable public data have systematically tracked camp locations, operations, or populations over time. To address this, we introduce the African Refugee Camps Dataset (ARCD), a geospatial panel dataset. We first describe how the dataset was constructed, the sources used to build it, and the structure and content of the resulting data. We then use the data to characterize the refugee camps in the region over the 26 years the ARCD covers. We finish by presenting two applications combining the ARCD with complementary data to illustrate its potential for research. First, we assess spatial features of camp locations compared to stratified random sites. Second, we estimate the effect of camp openings on forest and vegetation cover using a differences-in-differences approach.
An unprecedented decline in net migration increased the number of young men in Mexico, but also reduced their economic prospects. Using an instrumental variable approach, we identify changes in net migration uncorrelated with local conditions. The higher presence of men increases partnership in the form of cohabitation and not marriage. Fertility also increases, but largely in cohabiting couples and not in married ones. The decision to marry is impacted more by economic prospects, but for childbearing, the presence of a male partner in the household is enough to offset the greater economic uncertainty.
Climate change can have far-reaching effects on women in developing countries, especially where regressive gendered customs and norms persist. This study provides novel evidence on how the custom of dowry shapes the long-term effects of rising temperatures on women in rural India. We examine the impacts of rising temperatures on marriage-related female rural-rural and rural-urban migration. We find that a $0.1<^>{\circ }$C rise in long-term temperatures is associated with a 2.7 percent decline in rural-urban and a 1.4 percent decline in rural-rural female migration, with declining effects concentrated in districts where dowry prevalence is high. Supporting evidence indicates that higher temperatures reduce agricultural yields and depress rural incomes, limiting households' ability to finance dowries needed to secure grooms, particularly from urban areas. Consistent with this mechanism, we also find that rising temperatures are associated with declining female marriage rates in rural areas where dowry practices are highly prevalent.
