Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

Publication Date

2025

Publication Title

Coase-Sandor Working Paper Series in Law and Economics

Abstract

We explore a paradox: high levels of satisfaction among forcibly displaced Rohingya women in informal camps in Hyderabad, India. Despite experiencing extreme poverty, loss of family and community, and high levels of gender-based violence after resettlement, both men and women—particularly women—report significant increases in satisfaction. We structured a representative household survey, employed a trusted female Muslim interviewer with deep ties to the local community, interviewed comparable numbers of men and women, and embedded list experiments in our questionnaire, to allow people to answer sensitive questions indirectly. We attribute this paradoxical finding to increased freedom post-resettlement, facilitated by economic, legal, and cultural factors. We expand the literature on happiness and migration, showing that subjective well-being can improve significantly even for forced migrants in precarious conditions. Our findings sharply illustrate the capabilities approach to human development, which emphasizes increased autonomy, as distinct from greater wealth.

Number

25-26

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