Barriers to Labor Migration for the Rural Poor

Last registered on September 01, 2025
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Barriers to Labor Migration for the Rural Poor
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0016620
Initial registration date
August 25, 2025

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
September 01, 2025, 3:04 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Bangladesh
Region
Rangpur

Primary Investigator

Name
Abu Shonchoy
Affiliation
Florida International University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Tomoki Fujii
PI Affiliation
Singapore Management University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2013-06-01
End date
2025-08-24
Keywords
Gender, Labor
Additional Keywords
On-the-job Training, Bangladesh, Garment Industry, Rural, Extremely Poor
JEL code(s)
J61, O15, R23
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Migration could be an important anti-poverty measure, allowing the rural poor to spatially relocate to areas where employment opportunities are more promising. Rising rural-urban wage arbitrage makes migration a rational choice for many youths in developing countries. However, permanent rural-to-urban migration by the poor in developing countries is alarmingly limited. This raises an important academic and policy-relevant question: why have the poor failed to take advantage of these opportunities in the urban job locations? What are the barriers to skill migration? One popular policy adopted by developing countries is the vocational training programs to reduce skill gaps. However, such training programs, often massively subsidized, are largely unsuccessful and do not typically provide support for other barriers faced by trainees, such as migration costs and employment risk at the destination. We introduce a training ``plus'' program for the apparel sector jobs offered to the poor rural youth in northern Bangladesh, where we relaxed some of these additional constraints in a rigorous Randomized Control Trial (RCT) setting.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Fujii, Tomoki and Abu Shonchoy. 2025. "Barriers to Labor Migration for the Rural Poor." AEA RCT Registry. September 01. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.16620-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

Sponsors

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
By employing a randomized control trial (RCT) technique, this study addresses which component of a successful training program – introduced by a local NGO in Bangladesh -- helps individuals find and secure jobs in the manufacturing sector in general and the Ready-Made Garments (RMG) industry in particular. We provided four different variations of job-related interventions randomly to eligible participants which are the following: i) Day-long job-related information session (T1), ii) One-month-long residential skill training (T2), iii) Month-long residential training with financial stipend for migration and forgone income (T3) and iv) same as T3 with one month paid internship in a factory located in the capital city.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2013-12-01
Intervention End Date
2014-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1) Program Uptake, 2) Employment, 3) Employment Continuation, 4) Income, and 5) Remittance.



Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Individual: 1) Program Completion, 2) Savings, 3) Borrowing, 4) Physical Health, 5) Work Stress
Origin Household: 1) Poverty, 2) Illness, 3) Asset
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We randomly allocated our sample of 2215 individuals into an experimental "pure control" group (with no training-related intervention, comprising 191 individuals) or one of the following four treatment groups, each with different job-related interventions (a total of 2024 individuals were allocated equally to each treatment group, resulting in 506 individuals per treatment).

i) Information group (T1): A day-long job-related information session was conducted for the participants at the union level in our implementation area. During this session, the participants were informed about the RMG industry and factories located in Dhaka. They were also informed about the factory environment, working conditions, hours of work, wage rate, overtime payments, and living environment in the urban location. They also learned how to get a job (hiring procedure) and what the required skills and qualifications are for securing such a job. The session concluded with a moderated question-and-answer session followed by packet lunch. The cost of this intervention was approximately 2 USD per person.

ii) Training Group (T2): The same information session as T1, plus a one-month-long (22 working days) residential vocational training intervention in GUK (Gana Unnayan Kendra), located in Gaibandha, on skills related to sewing machine operations and basic technical know-how of the RMG industry. The residential training program included lessons on sewing and overlock machine operations, as well as the basics of the ready-made garments production process. Upon successful completion of the residential training program, each participant was awarded a training completion certificate issued by the GUK. The cost of this intervention was 100 USD per person.

iii) Stipend Group (T3): The same as T2 with a financial stipend (3,500 BDT, about 45 USD) to support migration and forgone income. This amount was calculated based on the daily wage rate in the local area, which was 160 BDT per day (about 2 USD). This stipend amount was given in two installments, one at the beginning of the training and the other at the end. Those who discontinued the program after the first installment were ineligible to receive the second installment, but they were not obliged to return the first installment. The total cost of this intervention was 145 USD per person.

iv) Internship Group (T4): The same as T3 above, plus a month-long paid internship in a RMG factory located in Dhaka. GUK signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with 14 garment factories in Dhaka for internship placement for the participants. The cost associated with this relocation —primarily for transportation and initial moving costs — was borne by the participants using their stipend allowance. The total cost of this intervention was 185 USD per person.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in the office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Individual level with a phased-in design (blocking variable)
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
4 phases
Sample size: planned number of observations
2215
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
506 individuals per treatment
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Singapore Management University
IRB Approval Date
2013-12-06
IRB Approval Number
IRB-16-110-A128(1116)
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials