Wealth inequality and inter-governorate migration: Evidence from Egypt

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Abstract
Migration is one of the key livelihood strategies for households, especially those in low-income and middle-income regions. In this study, we investigate whether the economic level and inequality of wealth can affect inter-governorate migration in Egypt. Using gravity models and data from Population and Housing Censuses of Egypt, we are able to measure the push as well as pull effects of economic and wealth inequality levels on internal migration flows. Although there are a large number of studies on the effect of economic levels on migration, there is little if anything known about the effect of wealth inequality between the origin and destination areas on migration. We measure wealth levels using the household asset index. We find that people tend to move to governorates with high wealth levels as well as high wealth inequality. There is a positive association between wealth inequality and economic growth in Egypt. Governorates with high wealth inequality tend to experience high economic growth and therefore attract more migrants. This study’s findings also suggest that unlike non-work migration, the low wealth level in origin governorates is a push factor for work migration.

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