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International Remittances – A proposal how to test hypotheses about determinants of remittances with macroeconomic time series

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We study the determinants of remittances to developing countries at different time horizons. Remittances to developing countries nowadays exceed official development assistance and constitute a significant fraction of the disposable income of many households in developing countries. Different hypotheses suggest that remittances are often sent to compensate for low incomes, which may impose a downward bias when estimating their effects on the economic development (e.g. growth, poverty and consumption) in recipient countries. Two popular hypotheses about the causes of remittances are the altruism and insurance hypothesis. Both hypotheses suggest that remittances are sent to compensate for short-run economic declines, but the altruism hypotheses also predict that remittances should diminish gradually over time as the economic development in the receiving countries proceeds and the need for outside assistance decreases. Hence, the altruism hypothesis predicts a negative correlation between the economic conditions in the receiving countries and remittances in the long-run and the short-run, while the insurance hypothesis only predicts a negative relationship in the short run. We can thus test which hypothesis that is best supported the data by studying the correlation between remittances and consumption in receiving countries at different time horizons. For this purpose we use a macroeconomic panel with consumption and remittances data from 50 low and middle income economies between 1980 and 2006. We estimate Keynesian consumption functions with GDP and remittances per capita as explanatory variables for the full panel and for different subpanels. The data is decomposed into different time horizons using a maximal overlap discrete wavelet transform. We are not aware of any study which uses similar econometric techniques to test different hypotheses about the underlying causes of remittances. Our evidence predominantly supports a negative long-run relationship, which favours the altruism over the insurance hypothesis.

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  • Karpestam, Peter & Andersson, Fredrik N G, 2011. "International Remittances – A proposal how to test hypotheses about determinants of remittances with macroeconomic time series," Working Papers 2011:1, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2011_001
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    1. repec:dau:papers:123456789/10842 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. 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.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Remittances; Altruism; Insurance Hypothesis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • E27 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
    • F24 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Remittances

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