Land Ownership as a Determinant of Temporary Migration in Nang Rong, Thailand
Leah, K. Vanwey
European Journal of Population/Revue Européenne de Démographie 19(2): 121-145
2003
DOI: 10.1023/a:1023307100719Document Number: 277554
In this study I consider landownership as a determinant of temporary migrationin a rural area of Thailand. Previous researchon rural areas in developing countries hasfocused on the use of migration to diversifyhousehold incomes across economic sectors andacross geographic areas. I combine thisliterature with economic theories of migrationto understand the effect of land ownership ontemporary migration of household members in Nang Rong, Thailand. I estimate regressionmodels predicting the probability of ahousehold having any temporary migrants, andpredicting the number of male or femaletemporary migrants in the household. I findthat households with smaller landholdings arediversifying through migration in order tosupplement rural income, while households withlarger landholdings are diversifying in orderto overcome the absence of accessible credit inthe village.