TY - JOUR

T1 - Trade-offs between labour migration and agricultural productivity

T2 - Evidence from smallholder wheat systems in Nepal

AU - Paudel, Gokul P.

AU - Nguyen, Trung Thanh

AU - Grote, Ulrike

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Journal of International Development published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PY - 2024/9/29

Y1 - 2024/9/29

N2 - Rural labour out-migration has become a major contributor to off-farm income through remittances and plays a crucial role in supporting the livelihoods of rural households in developing economies. However, research on the simultaneous on-farm and off-farm impacts of labour migration is still lacking. This study assesses the impacts of household labour migration on wheat productivity, labour and total costs, profitability and off-farm income among smallholder wheat growers in Nepal. We use endogenous switching regression and two-stage least squares regression models to control for potential endogeneity. The findings reveal that labour migration boosts off-farm income due to remittances but negatively affects wheat productivity and profitability due to labour shortages. In addition, heterogeneous effects are observed, with large farms, cooperative membership, use of farm mechanization and non-marginalized castes recording positive impacts. The study suggests that social institutions, such as cooperatives, and farm mechanization can create synergies between labour migration and agricultural productivity in Nepal.

AB - Rural labour out-migration has become a major contributor to off-farm income through remittances and plays a crucial role in supporting the livelihoods of rural households in developing economies. However, research on the simultaneous on-farm and off-farm impacts of labour migration is still lacking. This study assesses the impacts of household labour migration on wheat productivity, labour and total costs, profitability and off-farm income among smallholder wheat growers in Nepal. We use endogenous switching regression and two-stage least squares regression models to control for potential endogeneity. The findings reveal that labour migration boosts off-farm income due to remittances but negatively affects wheat productivity and profitability due to labour shortages. In addition, heterogeneous effects are observed, with large farms, cooperative membership, use of farm mechanization and non-marginalized castes recording positive impacts. The study suggests that social institutions, such as cooperatives, and farm mechanization can create synergies between labour migration and agricultural productivity in Nepal.

KW - agricultural productivity

KW - labour shortage

KW - migration

KW - off-farm income

KW - remittances

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85205325170&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/jid.3959

DO - 10.1002/jid.3959

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85205325170

JO - Journal of International Development

JF - Journal of International Development

SN - 0954-1748

ER -