Emigration and education: the schooling of the left behind in Nigeria

ABSTRACT The potential effects of migration on the welfare of the left behind consist in an important part of the debate around migration. In this paper, we use household survey data from Nigeria to examine the impact of family migration on educational attainment. Because migration status of households is endogenous, we use proportion of migrants in a local district and historical exposure to foreigners as proxied by distance to foreign missionary station in 1921 as instruments for migration of household member. We find that being in a migrant household increases the probability of completing secondary school and attending some postsecondary education. We also find that belonging to a migrant household increases the probability of own future migration. We further explore channels through which migration of family member affects education. We provide tentative evidence suggesting that anticipation of future own migration may be behind increased educational attainment.