Returns to International Migration: Evidence from a Bangladesh-Malaysia Visa Lottery

We follow 3,512 (of 1.4 million) applicants to a government lottery that randomly allocated visas Bangladeshis for low-skilled, temporary labor contracts in Malaysia. Most winners migrate, and their remittance substantially raises family's standard of living Bangladesh. The migrant's absence pauses demographic changes (marriage, childbirth, household formation), shifts decision-making power towards females. Migration removes enterprising individuals, lowering entrepreneurship, but does not crowd out other family members' supply. One group were offered deferred migration never materialized. Improved prospects induce pre-migration investments skills generate no returns the domestic market.