Households in developing countries face a range of shocks that can affect their long run wellbeing.In some cases, migration becomes a strategy to cope with variation in income or productive resources. However, the absence of the migrant can also affect some measures of wellbeing such as human capital, and in particular, children's earlier development. This seminar will host two papers focused on the linkages between migration, shocks and children's development in Nicaragua. On one hand, the seminar will discuss the adverse medium-term impacts of Hurricane Mitch on children's wellbeing for those households that decided not to migrate. The second paper, will discuss the effects of seasonal migration in cognitive development of preschool children in poor areas prone to shocks with severe problems of malnutrition.

Presentations

• "Children Vulnerability to Shocks: Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua as a Natural Experiment" ( 348 KB pdf)
• "Seasonal Migration and Early Childhood Development" ( 162 KB ppt)

Background material

• " Children Vulnerability to Shocks: Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua as a Natural Experiment" ( 743 KB pdf)
• " Seasonal Migration and Early Childhood Development" (270 KB pdf)