Gender and Remittances: Evidence from Germany

This study focuses on gender-specific determinants of remittances in Germany. The conceptual approach considers gender roles and naturalization to be crucial in the immigrant's decision to remit. For the empirical investigation, the authors use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) study for the years 2001--6. The findings show, first, that individual income differences in the country of residence cannot sufficiently explain why foreign national women remit less than men in absolute terms. Second, men who are naturalized citizens remit far less than men who are foreign nationals. Thus, in the group of naturalized German citizens, gender differences in the amount of remittances disappear. This can be explained by the fact that acquisition of citizenship makes family reunification in Germany more likely. Third, network structures in the country of origin might help to explain differences between men and women and between foreign nationals and naturalized citizens in the amount remitted.