This is the outcome of an expert meeting organized jointly by the Social Science Resarch Council (SSRC), IOM, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Centre on Migration Policy and Society (COMPAS).

The articles selected for this volume are revised versions of some of the workshop papers that focused on issues related to labour migration. This narrower topical focus not only facilitates the framing of internal and international migration within sending and receiving areas and on different levels of social organization but also makes possible an examination of related methods of research and links to policy. The essays in this volume make clear that the livelihoods of many rural families and communities depend on both internal and international migration. Although both types of migration seem to provide access to work that can raise incomes and reduce poverty, international migration seems to offer considerably higher levels of remuneration.

IOM is delighted to be able to publish this volume of research, as it is likely that interest in the subject of internal migration and its relationship to development is likely to grow in the future.