Migration persistence across twentieth century India

Abstract

This paper shows the remarkable persistence of remittance-based migrations in India across the twentieth century. Drawing on recent national survey data and unique census data at the district level, we show that for regions covering 20% of the population of India, poor and rich, mobility has been persistently high in magnitude and has been male-dominated, remittance-based and circular in nature for well over a 100 years. This paper highlights the importance of social networks and deep rooted migration cultures influenced by source region conditions, in explaining migration persistence, and argues that remittance economies constitute a unique model of development that needs to be judged separately from other development models.