Relative Deprivation and Migration in an Agricultural Setting of Chitwan Valley, Nepal

Prem Bahadur Bhandari, Pennsylvania State University

Are Individuals from relatively deprived households more likely to migrate for economic reasons as compared to those from relatively less deprived households? In this paper, I empirically test the relative deprivation hypothesis of migration using household level data from a rural agricultural setting of Nepal. I used 1996 household level data collected from 1475 farming households of western Chitwan Valley, Nepal. The findings provide evidence in support of the hypothesis that individuals from households with relatively less access to cultivated land, an important source of income in this setting, were more likely to move elsewhere seeking for work as compared to those from relatively well-off households. I expect that the findings will be useful in understanding the significance of relative deprivation in migration decisions where land fragmentation is increasing as a result of fast growing population, open access to cultivable land is virtually non-existent and landlessness and near landlessness are increasing.