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Spousal communication and information sharing: Evidence from migrants and their spouses

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  • Ur Rehman, Obeid

Abstract

Do spouses misreport information to each other to influence household decision-making? I analyze this question using a novel field experiment among Filipino migrants in the UAE and their spouses staying behind in the Philippines. Both migrants and their spouses staying behind have biased beliefs about each other’s finances. By experimentally varying spousal observability of reported information, I show that spouses staying behind underreport their income by 31 percent when it is observable to migrants. Among both migrants and their spouses staying behind, women are more likely to underreport income. Income is underreported when migrants do not communicate about or demand control over the household’s finances. These reporting patterns are consistent with a theory of strategic misreporting to influence migrant remittances.

Suggested Citation

  • Ur Rehman, Obeid, 2023. "Spousal communication and information sharing: Evidence from migrants and their spouses," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:165:y:2023:i:c:s0304387823001037
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2023.103148
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Asymmetric information; Hidden income; Migration; Remittances;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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