Rural Economic Change and Labour Mobility: A Case Study From West Java

Abstract

The paper uses data from six West Java villages which were surveyed in 1976 and again in 1983 to examine the impact of temporary migration, mainly to urban areas, on the rural economy. It finds that despite substantial increases in rice production in the region in the years under discussion, a large proportion of the extra employment opportunities were in non-agricultural occupations in urban areas. Households from all socio-economic strata appear to have benefited from these employment opportunities However much of the employment was seasonal in nature and most migrants returned to the village to take up agricultural employment at peak periods.

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Notes on contributors

Chris Manning

The research on which this paper is based was undertaken in co-operation with the Agro-Economic Survey in Bogor Indonesia and received financial support from the Ford Foundation and the World Bank The author wishes to thank individuals from all three organisations who participated in the design and execution of the project for their generous assistance. A much longer version of the paper has been published as a discussion paper by the Centre for Development Studies, Flinders University (Manning. 1986)