Livelihood alternatives to labor migration: A choice experiment in Tajikistan

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dc.creatorLambrecht, Isabel B.
dc.creatorRajiv, Sharanya
dc.creatorDe Block, Wouter
dc.creatorErgasheva, Tanzila
dc.creatorMaertens, Miet
dc.creatorMardonova, Mohru
dc.creatorVan Hoyweghen, Kaat
dc.date2026-04-24
dc.date2026-04-24T22:02:52Z
dc.date.accessioned2026-06-27T15:40:04Z
dc.descriptionLabor migration is often driven by a need for income, and can also be motivated by a desire for higher earnings. A naïve assumption is therefore that an increase in local livelihood alternatives might reduce outmigration, something which has been found to hold true in some settings, but not in others. This study employs a discrete choice experiment (DCE) with 408 rural respondents in Tajikistan—a country heavily reliant on remittances from abroad—to assess whether specific local income-generating opportunities, such as those offered through cash-for-work programs or through the provision of additional farmland, might affect stated preferences regarding migration. The study explores trade-offs between local income generating opportunities (wage employment, access to farmland, and irrigation infrastructure) and migration restrictions, i.e., hypothetical constraints on household members migrating abroad for a given duration. We rely on stated rather than revealed preferences to examine these trade-offs. Our findings lend some support to the idea that households are willing to accept outmigration restrictions in return for improved local income-generation opportunities, either through wage employment or own-farming. Yet, findings are heterogeneous and depend on the households’ current and anticipated reliance on labor migration.
dc.formatapplication/pdf
dc.identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/182632
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/111120
dc.languageen
dc.publisherInternational Food Policy Research Institute
dc.relationhttps://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.70133
dc.relationhttps://doi.org/10.1177/01979183251343885
dc.relationhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-025-01623-8
dc.relationhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/175568
dc.rightsOpen Access
dc.sourceLambrecht, Isabel B.; Rajiv, Sharanya; De Block, Wouter; Ergasheva, Tanzila; Maertens, Miet; et al. 2026. Livelihood alternatives to labor migration: A choice experiment in Tajikistan. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2412. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/182632
dc.subjectmigration
dc.subjectlivelihoods
dc.subjectland
dc.subjectincome transfers
dc.subjectremittances
dc.subjectpublic works
dc.titleLivelihood alternatives to labor migration: A choice experiment in Tajikistan
dc.typeWorking Paper

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Instituto Internacional de Investigación sobre Políticas Alimentarias (IFPRI)