Migration and Wages Differentials in Urban Cameroon

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the importance of wages differentials between migrants and non migrants and determine what account for it among habitants of Yaoundé and Douala, two cosmopolite cities of Cameroon. We use data derived from the Employment and Informal Sector Survey implemented by the National Institute of Statistics in 2005. Econometric analyses of the migration decision, based on a sample of 3585 individuals, indicate that migration and participation decision are negatively correlated. After controlling for migration and labor force selection, results show that there exist a 12.8% wage differential in favor of migrants due to endowments (10.1%) and unexplained factors (2.7%). Yet, this wage differential does not determine speculative migration decisions to urban Cameroon.