IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/rdevec/v25y2021i1p405-429.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effects of international remittances on expenditure patterns of the left‐behind households in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Joseph B. Ajefu
  • Joseph O. Ogebe

Abstract

This article explores the effects of international remittances on the expenditure patterns of households in Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). This article focuses on five countries in SSA, which are some of the destinations that account for the highest receipt of international remittances. We analyze both aggregate and distributional effects of international remittances on expenditure patterns of households. To investigate the distributional effect of international remittances, we adopt the instrumental variable quantile (IV‐quantile) regression framework that allows us to simultaneously address the endogeneity of international remittances and possible heterogeneity in the impact of international remittances on households’ expenditure patterns. We instrument for international remittances by using the economic conditions in migrants’ countries as an instrument for international remittances. Our results show that the receipt of international remittances increases expenditures on food, durables, education, and health. Using the IV‐quantile regression, we find the effects of international remittances on household expenditure on food, durables, education, and health increase across the different expenditure quantiles.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph B. Ajefu & Joseph O. Ogebe, 2021. "The effects of international remittances on expenditure patterns of the left‐behind households in Sub‐Saharan Africa," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 405-429, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:rdevec:v:25:y:2021:i:1:p:405-429
    DOI: 10.1111/rode.12721
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12721
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/rode.12721?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Adams, Richard H, Jr, 1991. "The Economic Uses and Impact of International Remittances in Rural Egypt," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(4), pages 695-722, July.
    2. Imai, Katsushi S. & Gaiha, Raghav & Ali, Abdilahi & Kaicker, Nidhi, 2014. "Remittances, growth and poverty: New evidence from Asian countries," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 524-538.
    3. Julia Bredtmann & Fernanda Martínez Flores & Sebastian Otten, 2019. "Remittances and the Brain Drain: Evidence from Microdata for Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(7), pages 1455-1476, July.
    4. Valerie Koechlin & Gianmarco Leon, 2007. "International Remittances and Income Inequality: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 123-141.
    5. Dean Yang, 2008. "International Migration, Remittances and Household Investment: Evidence from Philippine Migrants’ Exchange Rate Shocks," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(528), pages 591-630, April.
    6. Ralph Chami & Connel Fullenkamp & Samir Jahjah, 2005. "Are Immigrant Remittance Flows a Source of Capital for Development?," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 52(1), pages 55-81, April.
    7. Pablo Acosta, 2011. "School Attendance, Child Labour, and Remittances from International Migration in El Salvador," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(6), pages 913-936.
    8. Frédéric Docquier & Hillel Rapoport, 2012. "Globalization, Brain Drain, and Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(3), pages 681-730, September.
    9. Ilahi, Nadeem & Jafarey, Saqib, 1999. "Guestworker migration, remittances and the extended family: evidence from Pakistan," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 485-512, April.
    10. Acosta, Pablo & Calderon, Cesar & Fajnzylber, Pablo & Lopez, Humberto, 2008. "What is the Impact of International Remittances on Poverty and Inequality in Latin America?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 89-114, January.
    11. Olivier Bargain & Delphine Boutin, 2015. "Remittance Effects on Child Labour: Evidence from Burkina Faso," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(7), pages 922-938, July.
    12. Andrew D. Foster & Mark R. Rosenzweig, 2001. "Imperfect Commitment, Altruism, And The Family: Evidence From Transfer Behavior In Low-Income Rural Areas," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(3), pages 389-407, August.
    13. Alejandra Cox Edwards & Manuelita Ureta, 2003. "International Migration, Remittances, and Schooling: Evidence from El Salvador," NBER Working Papers 9766, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. repec:dau:papers:123456789/10842 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Flore Gubert, 2002. "Do Migrants Insure Those who Stay Behind? Evidence from the Kayes Area (Western Mali)," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 267-287.
    16. Chernozhukov, Victor & Hansen, Christian, 2008. "Instrumental variable quantile regression: A robust inference approach," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(1), pages 379-398, January.
    17. Giorgio Secondi, 1997. "Private monetary transfers in rural china: Are families altruistic?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(4), pages 487-511.
    18. Agarwal, Reena & Horowitz, Andrew W., 2002. "Are International Remittances Altruism or Insurance? Evidence from Guyana Using Multiple-Migrant Households," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 2033-2044, November.
    19. Adriana Castaldo & Barry Reilly, 2007. "Do Migrant Remittances Affect the Consumption Patterns of Albanian Households?," South-Eastern Europe Journal of Economics, Association of Economic Universities of South and Eastern Europe and the Black Sea Region, vol. 5(1), pages 25-44.
    20. HwaJung Choi, 2007. "Are Remittances Insurance? Evidence from Rainfall Shocks in the Philippines," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 21(2), pages 219-248, May.
    21. Valerie Koechlin & Gianmarco Leon, 2007. "International Remittances and Income Inequality: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 123-141.
    22. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Susan Pozo, 2006. "Remittances as insurance: evidence from Mexican immigrants," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 19(2), pages 227-254, June.
    23. Adams, Richard H., Jr. & Cuecuecha,Alfredo & Page,John, 2008. "Remittances, consumption and investment in Ghana," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4515, The World Bank.
    24. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Pozo, Susan, 2010. "Accounting for Remittance and Migration Effects on Children's Schooling," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(12), pages 1747-1759, December.
    25. Alcaraz, Carlo & Chiquiar, Daniel & Salcedo, Alejandrina, 2012. "Remittances, schooling, and child labor in Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 156-165.
    26. Adams, Richard H, Jr, 1998. "Remittances, Investment, and Rural Asset Accumulation in Pakistan," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(1), pages 155-173, October.
    27. Adams Jr., Richard H. & Cuecuecha, Alfredo, 2010. "Remittances, Household Expenditure and Investment in Guatemala," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 1626-1641, November.
    28. Adams, Richard H. & Cuecuecha, Alfredo, 2013. "The Impact of Remittances on Investment and Poverty in Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 24-40.
    29. Lucas, Robert E B & Stark, Oded, 1985. "Motivations to Remit: Evidence from Botswana," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(5), pages 901-918, October.
    30. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Susan Pozo, 2011. "New evidence on the role of remittances on healthcare expenditures by Mexican households," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 69-98, March.
    31. Taylor, J. Edward & Mora, Jorge, 2006. "Does migration reshape expenditures in rural households? Evidence from Mexico," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3842, The World Bank.
    32. Woodruff, Christopher & Zenteno, Rene, 2007. "Migration networks and microenterprises in Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 509-528, March.
    33. World Bank, 2016. "Migration and Remittances: Recent Developments and Outlook," Working Papers id:10924, eSocialSciences.
    34. Farai Jena, 2018. "Migrant Remittances and Physical Investment Purchases: Evidence from Kenyan Households," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(2), pages 312-326, February.
    35. Osili, Una Okonkwo, 2004. "Migrants and Housing Investments: Theory and Evidence from Nigeria," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(4), pages 821-849, July.
    36. Edwards, Alejandra Cox & Ureta, Manuelita, 2003. "International migration, remittances, and schooling: evidence from El Salvador," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 429-461, December.
    37. Farai Jena, 2016. "The remittance behaviour of Kenyan sibling migrants," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-19, December.
    38. Joseph Boniface Ajefu & Joseph O. Ogebe, 2019. "Migrant remittances and financial inclusion among households in Nigeria," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(3), pages 319-335, July.
    39. Osili, Una Okonkwo, 2007. "Remittances and savings from international migration: Theory and evidence using a matched sample," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 446-465, July.
    40. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Annie Georges & Susan Pozo, 2010. "Migration, Remittances, and Children’s Schooling in Haiti," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 630(1), pages 224-244, July.
    41. J. Taylor & T.J. Wyatt, 1996. "The shadow value of migrant remittances, income and inequality in a household‐farm economy," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(6), pages 899-912.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Onyekachukwu Ernest Ebenebe & Ifunanya Miracle Ejimgini & Uju Regina Ezenekwe & Christopher U. Kalu, 2024. "Bridging Health Divides: Remittances and Health Expenditure in Nigeria[1]," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(9), pages 24-41, September.
    2. Fassil Eshetu & Jema Haji & Mengistu Ketema & Abule Mehare, 2023. "Impact of Rural Out-Migration on Vulnerability to Rural Multidimensional Poverty in Southern Ethiopia," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1175-1209, September.
    3. Sezard Timbi & Mohammadou Nourou & Zedou Abdala, 2024. "Governance Mediates the Effect of Remittances on Financial Inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 2874-2894, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Md Shahadath Hossain & Adesola Sunmoni, "undated". "Do Remittances Influence Household Investment Decisions? Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2021-04, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    2. Ibrahim Sirkeci & Jeffrey H. Cohen & Dilip Ratha, 2012. "Migration and Remittances during the Global Financial Crisis and Beyond," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13092.
    3. Randazzo, Teresa & Pavanello, Filippo & De Cian, Enrica, 2023. "Adaptation to climate change: Air-conditioning and the role of remittances," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    4. Démurger, Sylvie & Wang, Xiaoqian, 2016. "Remittances and expenditure patterns of the left behinds in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 177-190.
    5. Chuhong Wang & Xingfei Liu & Zizhong Yan, 2021. "Temporary versus permanent migration: The impact on expenditure patterns of households left behind," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 873-911, September.
    6. Matthieu Delpierre & Bertrand Verheyden, 2014. "Remittances, savings and return migration under uncertainty," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-43, December.
    7. Mora-Rivera, Jorge & van Gameren, Edwin, 2021. "The impact of remittances on food insecurity: Evidence from Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    8. Davis, Jason & Brazil, Noli, 2016. "Disentangling fathers’ absences from household remittances in international migration: The case of educational attainment in Guatemala," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1-11.
    9. Teresa Randazzo & Filippo Pavanello & Enrica De Cian, 2021. "Adaptation to climate change: air-conditioning and the role of remittances," Working Papers 2021:, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    10. Ambrosius, Christian & Cuecuecha, Alfredo, 2016. "Remittances and the Use of Formal and Informal Financial Services," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 80-98.
    11. Bharati Basu & Irudaya Rajan, 2018. "Investment Expenditure Behavior of Remittance Receiving Households: An Analysis Using Reserve Bank of India Data," Migration Letters, Migration Letters, vol. 15(3), pages 303-320, July.
    12. Ait Benhamou, Zouhair & Cassin, Lesly, 2021. "The impact of remittances on savings, capital and economic growth in small emerging countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 789-803.
    13. Cornelia Serena, PASCA, 2016. "Monetary Remittance - Romania Case Study," Contemporary Economy Journal, Constantin Brancoveanu University, vol. 1(3), pages 50-59.
    14. Laurent Bossavie & Çağlar Özden, 2023. "Impacts of Temporary Migration on Development in Origin Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 38(2), pages 249-294.
    15. Michael Clemens and Timothy N. Ogden, 2014. "Migration as a Strategy for Household Finance: A Research Agenda on Remittances, Payments, and Development- Working Paper 354," Working Papers 354, Center for Global Development.
    16. Rapoport, Hillel & Docquier, Frederic, 2006. "The Economics of Migrants' Remittances," Handbook on the Economics of Giving, Reciprocity and Altruism, in: S. Kolm & Jean Mercier Ythier (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Giving, Altruism and Reciprocity, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 17, pages 1135-1198, Elsevier.
    17. Kashif Imran & Evelyn S. Devadason & Cheong Kee Cheok, 2019. "Developmental Impacts of Remittances on Migrant-Sending Households: Micro-Level Evidence from Punjab, Pakistan," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 14(3), pages 338-366, December.
    18. Khraiche, Maroula & Boudreau, James, 2020. "Can lower remittance costs improve human capital accumulation in Africa?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(5), pages 1000-1021.
    19. Dorsaf Sridi & Wafa Ghardallou, 2021. "Remittances and disaggregated country risk ratings in Tunisia: an ARDL approach," Middle East Development Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 191-211, January.
    20. Filiz Garip, 2014. "The Impact of Migration and Remittances on Wealth Accumulation and Distribution in Rural Thailand," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(2), pages 673-698, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:rdevec:v:25:y:2021:i:1:p:405-429. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1363-6669 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.