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Evaluating the Impact of Remittances on Human Capital Investment in the Kyrgyz Republic

Author

Listed:
  • Gao, Xin

    (Cornell University)

  • Kikkawa, Aiko

    (Asian Development Bank)

  • Kang, Jong Woo

    (Asian Development Bank)

Abstract

Remittances from overseas can encourage human capital investment and improve educational outcomes in developing countries. Empirical studies, however, have shown mixed evidence at best. This paper uses a 5-year panel dataset that tracks the same 3,000 households and 8,000 individuals through time in all seven regions of the Kyrgyz Republic to examine the impact of remittances on the human capital formation of school-age children. After correcting for selection bias and other potential endogeneities with instrumental variables and fixed effects regressions, remittances are found to have negative impacts on human capital investment and educational achievement. The negative effects can be attributed in part to recipients’ increased expenditure on durable goods and extended hours of child labor on farm work as a compensation for missing adult labor. Our finding calls for actions that mitigate the negative effects and incentivize families to spend remittances on education, including financial literacy education, better monitoring of farm labor hours of school-age children, and targeted investment to improve the quality of education services in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Suggested Citation

  • Gao, Xin & Kikkawa, Aiko & Kang, Jong Woo, 2021. "Evaluating the Impact of Remittances on Human Capital Investment in the Kyrgyz Republic," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 637, Asian Development Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:adbewp:0637
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Agnes Quisumbing & Scott McNiven, 2010. "Moving Forward, Looking Back: the Impact of Migration and Remittances on Assets, Consumption, and Credit Constraints in the Rural Philippines," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(1), pages 91-113.
    2. Salas, Vania B., 2014. "International Remittances and Human Capital Formation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 224-237.
    3. Zhang, Hongliang & Behrman, Jere R. & Fan, C. Simon & Wei, Xiangdong & Zhang, Junsen, 2014. "Does parental absence reduce cognitive achievements? Evidence from rural China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 181-195.
    4. HwaJung Choi, 2007. "Are Remittances Insurance? Evidence from Rainfall Shocks in the Philippines," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 21(2), pages 219-248, May.
    5. Kaivan Munshi, 2003. "Networks in the Modern Economy: Mexican Migrants in the U. S. Labor Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(2), pages 549-599.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hayot Berk Saydaliev & Lee Chin, 2023. "The necessity of social infrastructure for enhancing educational attainment: evidence from high remittance recipient LMICs," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1823-1847, June.
    2. Chengjuan Xia & Md. Qamruzzaman & Anass Hamadelneel Adow, 2022. "An Asymmetric Nexus: Remittance-Led Human Capital Development in the Top 10 Remittance-Receiving Countries: Are FDI and Gross Capital Formation Critical for a Road to Sustainability?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-24, March.
    3. Waliu O. Shittu & Gazi M. Hassan & Frank G. Scrimgeour, 2023. "COVID-19 and the Role of Remittances on Sustainable Development: Insights from Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers in Economics 23/05, University of Waikato.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    education; household expenditure; human capital investment; Kyrgyz Republic; labor migration; remittances;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • F24 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Remittances
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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