The effect of urban migration on educational attainment
Despite the rapid urbanisation of the developing world, it remains unclear whether urban migration benefits individual outcomes and opportunities. One the one hand, cities may increase educational investment by offering higher returns to education and easier access to educational institutions. At the same time, cities in developing countries may also offer more distractions and the highly visible risk of permanent residence in urban slums with little public service provision.
In this project, we focus on the effects of urban migration in developing countries on educational outcomes of children. Does urban migration form a viable pathway to improve opportunities and educational outcomes? In order to answer the question, the project uses extensive census data for a variety of developing countries in Africa and Latin America.