Is Male Out-Migration Associated with Women's Participation in Post-Disaster Rebuilding? Evidence from Post-Earthquake Nepal.

How does male out-migration impact women's experience during post-disaster reconstruction? This paper employs survey data collected by Nepal's Housing Recovery Reconstruction Platform in 2018 to establish robust associations between male out-migration and three indicators of women's participation in rebuilding their private houses after the 2015 Gorkha earthquake: 1.) knowing where to consult for information, 2.) visiting a local government official by oneself, and 3.) signing a rebuilding agreement with the local government. Twenty-six semi-structured interviews collected in 2022 further revealed that women whose husbands were abroad undertook roles that they would not have taken had their husbands been present, including in management and decision-making. However, the interviews also highlighted challenges that women had to overcome, like a lack of knowledge about procuring materials and difficulties leading the process as a woman. This study advances the literature by establishing a relationship between male out-migration and variation in women's post-earthquake rebuilding experiences.