Recipients of PSC Small Grant Awards

This project builds off of ongoing work in Nepal that investigates the effects of international labor migration on family dynamics and household consumption. Roughly 200,000 Nepali migrants, the majority of whom are married men with an average of 1.3 children, are working in Gulf countries, a migrant destination responsible for 35% of remittances sent home to Nepal. Little is known about the social and environmental impacts that husbands’ labor migration have on sending communities. In this analysis, I will test hypotheses at the household and couple level concerning the effects of migrant work on household dynamics, expenses, and energy consumption and production, examining outlier cases in depth. My goal is to develop knowledge that will inform theoretical premises and analytic models, allowing for more comprehensive investigation of these interrelationships.