Urbanisation is a force for economic structural change. However, it has been slow in Sub-Saharan Africa, possibly due to contrary political interests of national incumbents. We study the political impacts of a randomised program integrating rural migrants in a Mozambican city with the participation of local leaders. We find that the program increased the political mobilisation of local leaders, whom we observe conducting more electoral campaigning, consistent with clientelism. Migrants become more politically active. Their rural family members align with the city incumbent (national opposition) and are more likely to migrate to the city. We conclude that urbanisation is political.
STEG Project Policy Brief
• Research Theme 5: The Role of the Public Sector,
Cross-Cutting Issue 3: Inequality and Inclusion
On the Political Economy of Urbanisation: Experimental Evidence from Mozambique
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