IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-16-00558.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effect of remittances on household consumption in African and Asian countries: A quantile regression approach

Author

Listed:
  • Yaya Keho

    (ENSEA)

Abstract

The impact of remittances on poverty has stimulated a number of empirical studies. However, these studies have relied on a regression framework in which the analysis is focused on the mean effects of remittances. In this paper, we use a quantile regression method to examine the effect of remittances on household consumption in African and Asian countries at various locations of the consumption distribution. The results show that remittances significantly increase household consumption and the effect is larger at lower levels of consumption. If remittances are to be used as a poverty-reducing tool, African and Asian countries should do more in reducing transaction costs and bringing recipient households into the formal financial sector in order to channel their savings into productive uses that can generate long-term benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • Yaya Keho, 2017. "Effect of remittances on household consumption in African and Asian countries: A quantile regression approach," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 37(3), pages 1753-1767.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-16-00558
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2017/Volume37/EB-17-V37-I3-P159.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Adams, Richard Jr. & Page, John, 2005. "Do international migration and remittances reduce poverty in developing countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1645-1669, October.
    3. Zivot, Eric & Andrews, Donald W K, 2002. "Further Evidence on the Great Crash, the Oil-Price Shock, and the Unit-Root Hypothesis," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 20(1), pages 25-44, January.
    4. Ivan A. Canay, 2011. "A simple approach to quantile regression for panel data," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 14(3), pages 368-386, October.
    5. Chihwa Kao & Min-Hsien Chiang, 1997. "On the Estimation and Inference of a Cointegrated Regression in Panel Data," Econometrics 9703001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Im, Kyung So & Pesaran, M. Hashem & Shin, Yongcheol, 2003. "Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 53-74, July.
    7. 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.
    8. repec:bla:obuest:v:61:y:1999:i:0:p:631-52 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Pan-Long Tsai & Chao-Hsi Huang & Chih-Yuan Yang, 2012. "Impact of Globalization on Income Distribution Inequality in 60 Countries: Comments," Global Economy Journal (GEJ), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 12(3), pages 1-12, August.
    10. Clemént, Matthieu, 2011. "Remittances and Household Expenditure Patterns in Tajikistan: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis," Asian Development Review, Asian Development Bank, vol. 28(2), pages 58-87.
    11. Alwyn Young, 1991. "Learning by Doing and the Dynamic Effects of International Trade," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 369-405.
    12. Gupta, Sanjeev & Pattillo, Catherine A. & Wagh, Smita, 2009. "Effect of Remittances on Poverty and Financial Development in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 104-115, January.
    13. Chiswick, Barry R., 1999. "Are Immigrants Favorably Self-Selected? An Economic Analysis," Working Papers 147, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    14. A. D. Roy, 1951. "Some Thoughts On The Distribution Of Earnings," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 3(2), pages 135-146.
    15. Barham, Bradford & Boucher, Stephen, 1998. "Migration, remittances, and inequality: estimating the net effects of migration on income distribution," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 307-331, April.
    16. Basanta K Pradhan & Malvika Mahesh, 2016. "Impact of remittances on poverty: an analysis of data from a set of developing countries," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(1), pages 108-117.
    17. Berhe Mekonnen Beyene, 2014. "The Effects of International Remittances on Poverty and Inequality in Ethiopia," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(10), pages 1380-1396, November.
    18. George J. Borjas, 2021. "Self-Selection and the Earnings of Immigrants," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 4, pages 69-91, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    19. Barry Chiswick, 1999. "Are Immigrants Favorably Self-Selected?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 181-185, May.
    20. Jasso, Guillermina & Rosenzweig, Mark R, 1990. "Self-Selection and the Earnings of Immigrants: Comment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(1), pages 298-304, March.
    21. John Anyanwu & Andrew E. O. Erhijakpor, 2010. "Do International Remittances Affect Poverty in Africa?," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 22(1), pages 51-91.
    22. Adams Jr., Richard H. & Cuecuecha, Alfredo, 2010. "Remittances, Household Expenditure and Investment in Guatemala," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 1626-1641, November.
    23. Perron, Pierre, 1989. "The Great Crash, the Oil Price Shock, and the Unit Root Hypothesis," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(6), pages 1361-1401, November.
    24. Alwyn Young, 1991. "Learning by Doing and the Dynamic Effects of International Trade," NBER Working Papers 3577, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    25. Amar Iqbal Anwar & Mazhar Mughal, 2012. "Remittances, inequality and poverty in Pakistan: macro and microeconomic Evidence [Centre d'Analyse Théorique et de Traitement des données économiques REMITTANCES, INEQUALITY AND POVERTY IN PAKISTA," Working papers of CATT hal-01885153, HAL.
    26. Amar Iqbal Anwar & Mazhar Mughal, 2012. "Remittances, inequality and poverty in Pakistan: macro and microeconomic Evidence [Centre d'Analyse Théorique et de Traitement des données économiques REMITTANCES, INEQUALITY AND POVERTY IN PAKISTA," Working papers of CATT hal-01885153, HAL.
    27. Richard Adams, 2011. "Evaluating the Economic Impact of International Remittances On Developing Countries Using Household Surveys: A Literature Review," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(6), pages 809-828.
    28. Moises Neil V. Serino & Donghun Kim, 2011. "How Do International Remittances Affect Poverty In Developing Countries? A Quantile Regression Analysis," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 36(4), pages 17-40, December.
    29. Nicita, Alessandro, 2009. "The price effect of tariff liberalization: Measuring the impact on household welfare," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 19-27, May.
    30. Bang, James T. & Mitra, Aniruddha & Wunnava, Phanindra V., 2016. "Do remittances improve income inequality? An instrumental variable quantile analysis of the Kenyan case," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 394-402.
    31. G. S. Maddala & Shaowen Wu, 1999. "A Comparative Study of Unit Root Tests with Panel Data and a New Simple Test," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(S1), pages 631-652, November.
    32. Levin, Andrew & Lin, Chien-Fu & James Chu, Chia-Shang, 2002. "Unit root tests in panel data: asymptotic and finite-sample properties," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 1-24, May.
    33. Gustafsson, Bjorn & Makonnen, Negatu, 1993. "Poverty and Remittances in Lesotho," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 2(1), pages 49-73, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Bang, James T. & Mitra, Aniruddha & Wunnava, Phanindra V., 2016. "Do remittances improve income inequality? An instrumental variable quantile analysis of the Kenyan case," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 394-402.
    2. Song, Yuegang & Paramati, Sudharshan Reddy & Ummalla, Mallesh & Zakari, Abdulrasheed & Kummitha, Harshavardhan Reddy, 2021. "The effect of remittances and FDI inflows on income distribution in developing economies," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 255-267.
    3. Bang, James T. & Mitra, Aniruddha & Wunnava, Phanindra V., 2018. "Hollowing Out the Middle? Remittances and Income Inequality in Nigeria," IZA Discussion Papers 11438, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. 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.
    5. Oluwasheyi S. Oladipo, 2020. "Migrant Workers' Remittances And Economic Growth: A Time Series Analysis," Journal of Developing Areas, Tennessee State University, College of Business, vol. 54(4), pages 75-88, October-D.
    6. Mamun, Md. Al & Sohag, Kazi & Uddin, Gazi Salah & Shahbaz, Muhammad, 2015. "Remittance and domestic labor productivity: Evidence from remittance recipient countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 207-218.
    7. Costantini, Valeria & Martini, Chiara, 2010. "The causality between energy consumption and economic growth: A multi-sectoral analysis using non-stationary cointegrated panel data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 591-603, May.
    8. SeyedSoroosh Azizi, 2021. "The impacts of workers’ remittances on poverty and inequality in developing countries," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 969-991, February.
    9. Anghel, Remus Gabriel & Piracha, Matloob & Randazzo, Teresa, 2015. "Migrants' Remittances: Channelling Globalization," IZA Discussion Papers 9516, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Isaac Dadson & Ryuta Ray Kato, 2016. "Remittances and the Redistributive Policy in Ghana: A Computable General Equilibrium Approach," Review of Economics & Finance, Better Advances Press, Canada, vol. 6, pages 28-44, May.
    11. Joseph Siani, 2020. "International remittances, poverty and growth into WAEMU countries: evidence from panel cointegration approach," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(2), pages 1446-1456.
    12. Ma, Yechi & Chen, Zhiguo & Shinwari, Riazullah & Khan, Zeeshan, 2021. "Financialization, globalization, and Dutch disease: Is Dutch disease exist for resources rich countries?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    13. Fr餩ric Laurin, 2012. "Trade and regional growth in Spain: panel cointegration in a small sample," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 435-447, February.
    14. David Greasley & Les Oxley, 2010. "Cliometrics And Time Series Econometrics: Some Theory And Applications," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 970-1042, December.
    15. Vacaflores, Diego E., 2018. "Are remittances helping lower poverty and inequality levels in Latin America?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 254-265.
    16. Anyikwa, Izunna & Hamman, Nicolene & Phiri, Andrew, 2018. "Persistence of suicides in G20 countries: SPSM approach to three generations of unit root tests," MPRA Paper 87790, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Celia Melguizo, 2017. "An analysis of Okun’s law for the Spanish provinces," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 37(1), pages 59-90, February.
    18. Zsóka Kóczán & Franz Loyola, 2021. "How do migration and remittances affect inequality? A case study of Mexico," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(2), pages 360-381, March.
    19. Mehmet Balcilar & Ojonugwa Usman & George N. Ike, 2023. "Investing green for sustainable development without ditching economic growth," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 728-743, April.
    20. Schneider, Nicolas & Strielkowski, Wadim, 2023. "Modelling the unit root properties of electricity data—A general note on time-domain applications," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 618(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    remittances; household consumption; African countries; Asian countries; quantile regression;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O5 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies
    • F3 - International Economics - - International Finance

    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:ebl:ecbull:eb-16-00558. 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: John P. Conley (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.