Labor Migration in Nepal

Labor migration can be an important pathway for upward mobility (Gibson and McKenzie, 2014; Clemens and Postel., 2017; Mobarak et al., 2020; Bryan et al., 2014; Beegle et al., 2011). Unfortunately, many individuals face large barriers to profitable migration. New migrants must cope with imperfect information on wages and employment prospects in destinations, search costs in finding jobs and housing, risks of abuse by employers, and difficulty navigating unfamiliar laws and norms in a new community. Social networks can help individuals overcome these barriers by sharing information on wages, job opportunities, and strategies for living safely in the destination.

This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) testing whether connecting peer migrants and incentivizing co-migration improves migration outcomes. The RA will assist with tasks such as a) survey design and programming for a combination of automated phone, chatbot, and live-enumerator surveys, b) cleaning and checking quality of incoming data, c) helping to code matching and randomization for the implementation of the RCT, and d) preliminary data analysis. Additional administrative tasks related to research may also be required.