Jason Davis, UCSB Geography alumnus (2010) and current postdoctoral scholar at the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, recently received a prestigious NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99). Similar in many respects to the NIH K01 award received by Jason’s dissertation advisor, Dr. David Lopez-Carr, K99 awards fund two years of postdoctoral research as well as three years of full faculty support. Jason’s K99 research plan strives to untangle the countervailing effects of economic migration—parental absences vs. remittance—on left-behind children’s growth outcomes. The monetary remittances that are generated through economic migration are a major mechanism for alleviating chronic poverty in these settings. However, the benefits derived by remittances are often diminished by negative impacts attributable to parental absences. A more extensive project summary follows:
In response to deficiencies in economic, political and/or social standing, many parents from the developing world use migration as a means to improve their condition and the future prospects of their children. The monetary remittances that are generated through economic migration are a major mechanism for alleviating chronic poverty in these settings. However, the benefits derived by remittances are often diminished by negative impacts attributable to parental absences. Migration by its very nature places heavy burdens on left-behind family members, particularly young children, that can cause permanent harm related to undernutrition rather than the improved future that their parents envisioned. Undernutrition suffered in utero and during infancy can lead to diminished cognitive ability and physical stature, reduced economic productivity, and higher risk of non-communicable disease in adulthood. The Pathway to Independence Award will be used to improve Jason’s knowledge of maternal and child health and development in lesser-developed world settings, bolster his skills in econometric research methods and expand his understanding of migration outside of the Americas. Jason will use these improved skills and knowledge to leverage his in situ migration research expertise in Central America to complete two of three specific aims for a Nicaraguan context: 1) to quantify the impact of parental absence(s) versus remittance transfers on left-behind children’s well-being as measured by three indicators of physical development (stunting, wasting, and underweight) and 2) to identify the extent to which the combination of parental absences with the infusion of remittances are beneficial or detrimental to left-behind children’s physical development under three types of economic migration (internal migration, South-North migration to the US and South-South migration to Costa Rica). During the “faculty” award phase, a third specific aim will be targeted that expands the project to capture migration dynamics in other areas of the globe that experience different migration dynamics and maintain high incidences of undernutrition. The availability of contemporary and extensive panel data for Nepal, the Philippines, and Uganda will allow him to enlarge the investigation to generalize research aims globally.
