Economic integration in an urban labor market: Does migration matter? The case of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between migration and employment in Ouagadougou. Using both a cross-sectional and a longitudinal approach, we compare the economic integration of migrants to that of non-migrants. Contrary to most studies based on urban samples, the data used here come from a national survey. It is thus possible to reintegrate into the analysis the migration episodes to Ouagadougou of those respondents elsewhere in Burkina Faso. Results indicate that, contrary to the dominant hypothesis, with the introduction of time-dependent variables, migrants are not more disadvantaged than non-migrants in the labour market, whether we consider the situation at the time of the survey or at their time of arrival in the city hunting for their first paid job.