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Remittance behavior among new U.S. immigrants

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  • Katherine Meckel

Abstract

I analyze remittance behavior among new legal immigrants in the US using a nationally representative survey of immigrants admitted to legal permanent residency in 2003. I find that the distribution of remittances is skewed to the right, with a small number of immigrants sending very large amounts. I find evidence against the pure altruism model and find that remittances may be used for investments in the home country. Using longitudinal data from the NIS, I construct a measure of permanent income and estimate remittance-income elasticities. I find that large country differentials in remittance behavior are only partially explained by observable characteristics of the donor, recipient and origin country. Future work will incorporate later waves of the 2003 NIS in order to observe return migration (and its relationship to remittance and home country investment decisions) and life cycle income-remittance movements.

Suggested Citation

  • Katherine Meckel, 2008. "Remittance behavior among new U.S. immigrants," Working Paper Series WP-08-19, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedhwp:wp-08-19
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    Cited by:

    1. Jessica Audrey Clayton & Thierry Warin, 2010. "A Note on Remittances in El Salvador and Ecuador: An Analysis of Household Survey Data," CIRANO Working Papers 2010s-13, CIRANO.

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    Keywords

    Immigrants; Remittances;

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