Do remittances reduce school dropout in Bangladesh? The role of government’s administrative and structural support

In the development literature, the impact of remittances on educational outcomes is a contentious topic and remains at the heart of policy discussions on enhancing quality education in developing countries. Bangladesh being one of the world’s top remittance recipients, it’s crucial to understand the influence of remittances on educational outcomes and school dropout rates. In this study, we examine the impact of internal remittances (from inside Bangladesh) and international remittances (from outside Bangladesh) on school dropout at the household level using a unique, national, and two most recent datasets covering migration and remittance-related information from the Bangladesh Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES). Considering the methodological issues such as endogeneity sources and self-selection, we used the Instrumental Variable Cox Proportional Hazard model and included asset scores in the models as a proxy measure of households’ wealth index. Furthermore, all the outcomes using the econometric approaches were segregated into three groups: i) those who received no remittances, ii) those who received internal remittances, and iii) those who received international remittances for both HIES 2010 and HIES 2016. This analysis provides a critical picture of the influence of remittances on school dropouts in Bangladesh by giving us a significant positive outcome of the remittances as a whole on education. With the increase in remittance inflows in Bangladesh, the risk of children aged 6-18 dropping out of education are more likely to fall. Aside from the positive impact, this study suggests that government should take the initiative of reducing the costs of sending remittances to Bangladesh. Moreover, the government should provide procedural and structural support to migrants.     

流动模式与农民工婚姻稳定性研究:基于性别和世代的视角

基于广州2016年的“农民工社会融合与婚姻家庭调查”数据,本文从性别和世代的角度系统探讨了农民工的婚姻稳定性问题。分析结果表明,新生代农民工的婚姻稳定性显著低于第一代农民工,女性农民工婚姻稳定性低于男性农民工,且新生代女性农民工婚姻稳定性最低。流动模式对农民工婚姻稳定性具有显著影响,且这种影响存在性别和世代差异,其中流动模式形塑着农民工的婚姻收益和离婚阻力,流动模式对农民工婚姻稳定性的影响,同时又受到具体的性别效应和世代效应的共同影响,其中的脆弱性差异机制可以解释流动模式对农民工婚姻稳定性影响的性别效应和世代效应。     

A rejoinder to "The impact of infectious diseases on remittances inflows to India"

We argue that the volume of remittances sent home by migrants is influenced by the exogenous likelihood that the duration of their migration will be cut short. A higher probability of reverse migration, brought about by the collapse of jobs in the wake of COVID-19, made migrants attach greater importance to the creation of a social and economic environment in their places of origin that can support them when they return. There are several ways in which this can be done. One is by instilling gratitude. When bigger remittances are responded to by greater gratitude, the support will be bigger. An impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrants’ perceived duration of their migration is an increase in the uncertainty of the duration. The good will of migrants’ families and communities at origin is a form of insurance. A standard response to uncertainty is to take out insurance, and when uncertainty is higher, insurance is more valuable, and there is a tendency to acquire more of it. As it happens, the link between the volume of remittances and the likelihood of return migration does not feature at all in Shastri’s (2022) paper, nor for that matter in related writings by the World Bank and the IMF. The purpose of this rejoinder is to draw attention to this link, inducing students of migrants’ remittances to explore the link.     

方言距离与城市流动人口犯罪的同群效应——基于广州、深圳、东莞三市的实证分析

在快速城市化过程中,由人口流动带来的区域文化碰撞在推动经济增长的同时,也深刻影响着社会融合。基于中国裁判文书网、《汉语方言大词典》、2017年全国流动人口动态监测调查的数据,本文以广州、深圳、东莞三大人口超千万的人口净流入城市为例进行实证分析,以方言距离为文化差异的代理变量,研究其如何影响城市流动人口的同乡团伙犯罪行为。研究表明,方言距离与流动人口同乡团伙犯罪显著正相关,同群效应是文化差异增加流动人口同乡团伙犯罪率的主要途径之一。本文从方言距离视角解读城市化过程中文化隔阂对城市社会和谐稳定的影响,丰富了文化影响移民犯罪及治理的理论探索,对推进以人为本的新型城镇化具有一定借鉴意义。     

同乡的力量：同乡聚集对农民工工资收入的影响

中国的城乡流动中存在同一籍贯或同一来源地的农村流动人口的就业聚集现象--“同乡聚集”。本研究使用2010年珠三角和长三角外来务工者调查的数据,采用倾向分数匹配和异质性干预模型等方法,考察了以籍贯为族群基础的同乡聚集对城市农民工经济收入的影响。研究发现,尽管同乡聚集者的收入优势受到异质性和自我选择机制的影响,但同乡聚集仍有助于提高农民工的工资收入。越倾向于同乡聚集的农民工,从同乡聚集中获得的收入回报越高。     

How portable is social security for migrant workers? A review of the literature

This article reviews the recent literature on existing mechanisms that allow for the portability of social security entitlements for migrant workers and finds that North–North migrants have the best access to portability. There is limited coordination between origin and destination countries regarding the portability of social entitlements of South–North migrants. These migrants are dealing with discourses and policies that treat them as second class citizens, even as they are providing much‐needed labour to their host countries. South–South migrants are seeing new regional mechanisms addressing portability. However, many of the impacts of these mechanisms are not yet known. Other knowledge gaps on portability relate to internal and South–South migration, the role of gender and other social identities, migrants’ occupations as well as their legal immigration status.     

School factors helping disadvantaged students to succeed: empirical evidence from four Italian cities

This research investigates a particular category of disadvantaged students, namely those who are able to overcome a situation of socio-economical disadvantage and obtain good academic results (here named ‘resilient students’). We have used micro-data provided by the Italian National Evaluation Committee for Education and focused on class and school-level characteristics that help disadvantaged students to become resilient students when they move from primary (grade 5) to lower secondary school (grade 6), concentrating our analysis on four major cities. We employed a probit regression and a propensity score matching model, finding that class and school factors do matter. In particular, we looked at whether the performance of their peers has a positive impact on that of disadvantaged students, estimating the increased probability of these students becoming resilient.     

SPECIAL ISSUE： MIGRANT WORKERS IN THE COURSE OF URBANIZATION Migrant workers in China： a general survey

本文通过对相关实证研究文献的疏理,从农民工总量规模、结构分布、对输出地贡献和对输入地影响四个方面对中国农民工的总体性状况进行了描述与分析。在总量规模的分析中,我们需要注意各调查的统计口径,值得注意的是,根据最新发布的农普调查数据,农村外出从业劳动力已达1．3亿,此处数据不含随外出从业劳动力外出的非劳动力人口。外出务工经商者以初中文化的青壮年为主,行业分布以制造业、建筑业和服务业为主,长距离迁移占很高比例。农民工跨区域转移这种就业结构变动对我国经济增长贡献巨大,已有研究估计对GDP增量贡献在20％左右。从输出地来看,总的影响是积极的,特别是收入状况的改善,但也留下了数量庞大的留守族。     

Strategic contextualisation: free movement,labour migration policies and the governance of foreign workers in Europe

Heightened levels of internal labour mobility since the European Union (EU)'s Eastern enlargements in 2004 and 2007 have shifted the context for member state policies geared towards the admission of non-EU workers. This article contends that the strategic use of the internal mobility regime by member states, as a justification for selective recruitment of labour from outside the EU, deserves more analytical attention. This contribution examines how labour migration policies (LMP) in the United Kingdom, France and Germany make use of the EU free-movement framework in current legislation, and how associated policy rationales are justified. In an interpretive policy analysis of legislative documents and decision-makers' meaning-making, as related in semi-structured interviews, the article identifies the logics, tools and rationales which link LMP to EU free movement. These links are shown to be highly selective and they serve common as well as nationally distinct governance goals. Across all three cases LMPs ascribe various degrees of relevance to EU internal labour supply, depending on the different skill levels of migrants targeted in respective policies. This shared pattern of economic coordination of LMP by skill level – in which the EU common labour market plays the role of delimiting additional migration in the skilled and especially low-skilled segments – is conflated with national migration control agendas. Member states draw on EU free movement to justify migration restrictions targeted at specific sending countries. As a result, the governance of the foreign workforce produces skills- and origin-based privileges rather than granting rights to mobile migrant workers in Europe.     

Resilience for dropout students with depression in secondary schools in Hong Kong: parental attachment,hope and community integration

ABSTRACT

The objective of this qualitative research is to better understand school dropout students with depression in Hong Kong and how they overcome their adversities. Three girls and five boys participated in the study. The results showed that the Hong Kong cultural context was affected by school competition and the effect of mental health labelling. Jaspers’ phenomenology was utilised to understand the phenomenon of school dropout and depression. The findings illustrated the importance of secure parental attachment, substitute secure attachment, hope, supportive environment and community integration in helping dropout students with depression to overcome adversities. A resilience model for school dropouts with depression is proposed for improving professional practice in Hong Kong.     

Identifying and Explaining Different Poverty Trajectories Using a Group‐based Trajectory Analysis – A Case Study of South Korea

In this study, we propose a group‐based trajectory analysis to examine why and how people fall into and out of poverty despite spiralling public expenditure on anti‐poverty policies. By analyzing the poverty experiences of 1,001 low‐income households between 1999 and 2008 in Korea, we identify five groups based on their poverty trajectories: exiting, declining, slowly rising, rapidly rising and chronic. Household members in each group demonstrate heterogeneous labour market experiences, educational levels and demographic factors. The exiting group has a high proportion of full‐time workers, high school graduates, and younger and male‐headed households, whereas the chronic group has more part‐time workers, high school dropouts, and older and female‐headed households. Among the declining, slowly rising and rapidly rising groups, educational background, age and sex are factors that differentiate the poverty dynamics of household members. Lastly, a number of social policies for helping low‐income households to leave and stay out of poverty are proposed.     

Why Does Immigrant Trip Duration Vary Across U.S. Destinations?

Objective . This article explores the factors that lead to differences in immigrant trip duration across U.S. destinations. Methods . Using data from the Mexican Migration Project and the 1970, 1980, and 1990 U.S. Censuses, we estimate discrete-time hazard models of the probability of return for unauthorized male migrants. Results . We find three patterns of migration for undocumented migrants across U.S. destinations: semi-permanent and permanent migration to urban areas; temporary migration to agricultural areas; and sojourner, or cyclical, migration to border regions. These patterns depend on the characteristics of the immigrant population that moves to each destination, in addition to the opportunities available to migrants in each destination. However, all these factors are mediated by social and institutional conditions at the destination. Conclusions . The findings of this study reiterate the importance of economic opportunities as an important predictor of not only migration to, but also length of stay in, the United States. Dynamic regions not only attract more immigrants, but they also attract a more permanent population of migrants.     

The Prevention of Social Aggression Among Girls

This study represents the first systematic attempt to examine a theory‐based program designed to reduce girls' social aggression and increase positive leadership among peers. Fifth‐grade girls from six public schools were randomly assigned within classrooms to the social aggression prevention program (SAPP) and the comparison reading clubs. A school‐based small group program, the SAPP was demonstrated to have a positive impact for all students in the domain of social problem solving. For students with high baseline social problems, teachers reported positive changes in SAPP participants' prosocial behavior. In addition, the content of the program was critical: reading club participants improved their reading achievement at greater rates than SAPP participants. Targeting female students in a program focused on resolving social conflicts from multiple perspectives may be an important addition to broader, multilevel initiatives to prevent aggression and promote leadership in schools.     

Saving public pensions: Labor migration effects on pension systems in European countries

European countries have experienced population aging and consequent pressure on public pensions. Some European countries, therefore, have welcomed migrants, expecting that the inflow of people will ease the demographic and fiscal problems. It is important to ask if this policy approach has had the intended effects. This paper examines the effects of labor migration on public pension systems. Using error correction models (ECMs) with cross-country time-series data on European countries from 1981 to 2009, this analysis demonstrates that labor migration has deterred the reduction of public pension benefit levels and government expenditure on pension as well as the expansion of private pensions. This implies that labor migration eases the pressure on public pension systems. Migration contributory effects have been larger in countries with Bismarckian pension systems because those countries have experienced greater pressure on public pension systems than other countries.     

Gray Peril or Loyal Support? The Effects of the Elderly on Educational Expenditures*

Objectives. Do large concentrations of elderly represent a “gray peril” to maintaining adequate educational expenditures? The gray peril hypothesis is based on an assumption of instrumental self‐interest in political behavior. In contrast, we argue that loyalty to community schools competes with economic self‐interest and that older citizens are heterogeneous in their preferences. Methods. We test these arguments and their implications for public school finance using a data set of more than 9,000 school districts. Results. The data show that longstanding older residents represent a source of support for educational expenditures while elderly migrants lower spending. Further, this divide among the elderly and their impact on policy outputs depends on how states finance local public education and on aspects of state and local tax policy. Conclusions. Elderly concentrations are a financial asset for a school district unless the senior community includes a large number of new arrivals. The design of tax policy can have enormous impact on the depth of political cleavages and their ultimate impact on public policy. The results are consistent with the idea that loyalty—an emotional bond between residents and their community's institutions—competes with and often trumps instrumental self interest.     

Are rural–urban migrants living in urban slums more vulnerable in terms of housing,health knowledge,smoking, mental health and general health?

The magnitude of rural–urban migration in Bangladesh is increasing. Rapid urbanisation and a growing number of slums (dominated by migrants) pose many challenges to health. To our knowledge, studies regarding internal migration and health are scarce and results are mixed. Therefore, we compared several aspects, namely: housing, health knowledge, smoking, mental and general health, for three groups of migrants, designated urban natives/urban to urban migrants (UN/UU), rural to urban migrants (RU) and rural natives/rural to rural migrants (RN/RR). Results based on a sample of 5,136 adults indicated that the majority of respondents were less than 50 years old, female, married and uneducated. The percentages of UN/UU, RU and RN/RR migrants were 9.6, 69.2 and 21.3, respectively. As both bivariable and multivariable analyses indicated greater vulnerability among RU migrants in terms of the above‐mentioned aspects, this particular group deserves more attention from policy‐makers and other stakeholders. Some implications are also discussed. Key Practitioner Message: ● This study provides information regarding internal migration and explains push–pull factors in Bangladesh; ● It provides evidence regarding greater vulnerability in terms of health and other determinants among rural–urban migrants living in Dhaka slums; ● Lastly, the study justifies the importance of intervention strategies targeting poor migrants in urban slums in developing countries.     

影响农民工精神健康的社会因素

本项研究运用定量数据从个体的社会经济地位、迁移压力和社会资本三个角度,分析了影响农民工精神健康的社会因素。研究发现：（1）相对社会经济地位对农民工的精神健康产生的影响远大于绝对社会经济地位的影响;（2）农民工群体的迁移过程面临的压力,例如被排斥、不公平待遇等会对他们的精神健康产生较大的消极影响;（3）相较于其他群体,社会资本和精神健康的关系在农民工群体中的表现更为复杂。有的社会资本对精神健康有积极的影响,例如信任和网络密度;而有的社会资本则对精神健康产生消极影响。     

Internal and External Factors of Plagiarism: Evidence from Chinese Public Sector Universities

This study explores the effects of internal and external factors that encourage plagiarism from the perspective of students. We collected student data from five public sector universities in Anhui Province, China, by randomly distributing survey questionnaires to 250 students, 176 of which were usable. We analyzed the collected quantitative data through multiple regression analysis. Our research results demonstrate that external and internal factors have a great influence on plagiarism. The control behavior and teaching factors have a significantly positive impact on plagiarism, while ICT and web does not have a considerable impact on plagiarism. Among the external factors, a significant positive correlation exists between external stress, pride, and plagiarism; however, no significant relationship exists between academic skills and plagiarism. The article concludes that grade level and enrollment status (full-time or part-time) are inversely correlated to plagiarism, which proves that the higher the academic level, the less the plagiarism behaviors occur. This concept may be due to the fact that the higher the academic level, the stronger the plagiarism constraints might be, which in turn leads to a drastic decrease in plagiarism. Moreover, a negative relationship emerges between enrollment status (full-time or part-time) and plagiarism because part-time students who are committed to employment are less likely to give their full attention to their studies.     

区域文化对婚姻稳定性的影响:基于跨省流动人口的研究

本文利用2013—2015年我国跨省流动人口数据,从动态的视角考察了流入地文化和流出地文化对流动人口婚姻稳定性的影响。数据结果显示,高离婚率地区形成了一种强势的离婚文化,无论是从低离婚率地区流入到高离婚率地区,还是从高离婚率地区流入到低离婚率地区,曾在高离婚率地区生活过的跨省流动人口都会保持较高的离婚概率。离婚文化对个人行为的影响表现为继承效应和浸染效应：继承效应即人们迁移到一个新的文化环境中,原有的离婚文化会持续产生影响;浸染效应即人们迁移到一个新的区域,会受到新接触的离婚文化的影响。年轻人更容易受到新迁入地文化浸染效应的影响,而年龄较大的人更容易受到流出地文化继承效应的影响。在新环境中,男性更容易接受新的文化,而女性则更多地保留了原有文化特征。     

A "Migration of Despair": Unemployment, the Search for Work, and Migration to Farms During the Great Depression

Objective . This study examines migration to farms during the Great Depression, when many displaced workers moved to farms in nearby rural areas searching for a means of livelihood. Methods . Regression analyses of data from the USDA, Census Bureau, and other sources are used. Results . (1) The rate of migration was greatest in places where the search for work by the unemployed was most intense. (2) The "push" of economic dislocation was a more significant factor in the migration than was the "pull" of the expected payoff to the movement. (3) Those who moved tended to be the long-term unemployed and labor force dropouts, suggesting that the migration was most sensitive to lengthy spells of joblessness. Conclusions . The results support hypotheses derived from theory and research and are most consistent with the classic "push-pull" model, which holds that the jobless will move to look for work or for other means of sustenance.