The Development Impact of a Best Practice Seasonal Worker Policy

Gibson, John ; McKenzie, David

MIT Press

关键词: seasonal migration;    seasonal workers;    household welfare;    standard of living;   

DOI  :  10.1162/REST_a_00383

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Seasonal migration programs are widely used around the world, yet there is little evidence as to their development impacts. A multi-year prospective evaluation of New Zealand's Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) seasonal worker program allows us to measure the impact of participating in this program on households in Tonga and Vanuatu. Using a propensity-score pre-screened difference-in-differences analysis based on surveys fielded before, during, and after participation, we find that the RSE has indeed had positive development impacts that dwarf those of other popular development interventions. It has increased income, consumption, and savings of households; durable goods ownership; and subjective standard of living. The results also suggest that child schooling improved in Tonga.