Restricting mothers’ international migration and human capital investment
利用斯里兰卡一项限制有5岁以下子女的母亲出国工作的政策，研究发现该政策减少了母亲移民、改善了留在家乡儿童的健康和教育成果，但减少了海外汇款。
International migration offers significant economic opportunities for developing countries, but it can also separate parents from their children, potentially harming child development. This paper examines the effects of restricting mothers’ international migration on left-behind children, leveraging a unique Sri Lankan policy that restricted mothers with children under age five from migrating abroad for employment. Using a difference-in-differences approach, the results reveal the following: First, the policy reduces international migration, increasing mothers’ presence at home. Second, policy exposure leads to better healthcare outcomes, including a significant reduction in inpatient stays, particularly treatment for illnesses. This improvement appears to result from increased childcare and monitoring by mothers. Although the policy decreases remittances from abroad, this reduction is offset by an increase in domestic remittances. Furthermore, we find evidence of positive spillovers on non-targeted children with younger, policy-targeted siblings, as indicated by reduced grade retention. These findings highlight the trade-offs between a mother’s presence and the economic opportunities associated with international migration in shaping human capital development.