Migration, Urbanization and Deforestation in the Ecuadorian Amazon: The Second Generation

Alisson F. Barbieri, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Richard Bilsborrow, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Since the 1970s, migration to the Amazon has led to rapid population growth and land clearing. Over time, a second phenomenon has emerged–urbanization. This paper uses longitudinal household survey data on migrant settler colonists in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon, from 1990 and 1999, to analyze what happens to the second generation. A multinomial discrete-time hazard model is used to estimate the determinants of out-migration to urban and rural areas, and addresses key questions: Do the children of the migrant settlers stay on the farm or move out as they reach adulthood? Do they extend the frontier by moving to rural destinations, or do they feed the growth of local towns/cities? The results show important differentials between migrants and non-migrants and among types of migrants in personal characteristics, human capital, landholdings, lifecycle, access to community infrastructure, and networks. The paper concludes with policy implications.