IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/tbs/wpaper/10-002.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Remittances in Georgia: Correlates, Economic Impact, and Social Capital Formation

Author

Listed:
  • Theodore P. Gerber

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

  • Karine Torosyan

    (International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University)

Abstract

Using a new data source, the Georgia on the Move Survey, we examine migrantlevel, household-level, and contextual variables associated with the probability that a Georgian household receives remittances. We use propensity score matching to estimate how remittances affect particular types of household expenditures, savings, labor supply, health, and other measures of well being more precisely than is usually possible. By conducting separate analyses for the subsample of households who currently have a migrant abroad, we are able to distinguish the effects of remittances from the effects of migration as such. In Georgia remittances improve household economic well-being without, for the most part, producing the negative consequences often suggested in the literature. The impact of remittances is especially pronounced in urban settings, less so in rural areas. We also find evidence for an aspect of remittances that has not been previously identified: they foster the formation of social capital because they increase the amount of money that households give as gifts to other households.

Suggested Citation

  • Theodore P. Gerber & Karine Torosyan, 2010. "Remittances in Georgia: Correlates, Economic Impact, and Social Capital Formation," Working Papers 002-10, International School of Economics at TSU, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia.
    • Handle: RePEc:tbs:wpaper:10-002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.iset.ge/files/wp002-10.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oded Stark, 1991. "The Migration of Labor," Blackwell Books, Wiley Blackwell, number 1557860300, April.
    2. Ali Mansoor & Bryce Quillin, 2007. "Migration and Remittances : Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6920.
    3. Shawn Kanaiaupuni & Katharine Donato, 1999. "Migradollars and mortality: The effects of migration on infant survival in Mexico," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 36(3), pages 339-353, August.
    4. Lucas, Robert E B & Stark, Oded, 1985. "Motivations to Remit: Evidence from Botswana," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(5), pages 901-918, October.
    5. Lipton, Michael, 1980. "Migration from rural areas of poor countries: The impact on rural productivity and income distribution," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 1-24, January.
    6. Stark, Oded & Taylor, J. Edward & Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 1988. "Migration, remittances and inequality : A sensitivity analysis using the extended Gini index," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 309-322, May.
    7. Massey, Douglas S., 2005. "Worlds in Motion: Understanding International Migration at the End of the Millennium," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199282760.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sonja Fransen, 2015. "Remittances, Bonds and Bridges: Remittances and Social Capital in Burundi," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(10), pages 1294-1308, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Theodore Gerber & Karine Torosyan, 2013. "Remittances in the Republic of Georgia: Correlates, Economic Impact, and Social Capital Formation," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(4), pages 1279-1301, August.
    2. de Haas, Hein, 2009. "Mobility and Human Development," MPRA Paper 19176, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Coulibaly, Issiaka & Dembélé, Moustapha, 2024. "Impacts of remittances from internal and international migrants on poverty and inequality in Mali," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    4. Dean Yang, 2008. "International Migration, Remittances and Household Investment: Evidence from Philippine Migrants' Exchange Rate Shocks," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(528), pages 591-630, April.
    5. I-Ling Shen & Frédéric Docquier & Hillel Rapoport, 2010. "Remittances and inequality: a dynamic migration model," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 8(2), pages 197-220, June.
    6. Bettin, Giulia & Paçacı Elitok, Seçil & Straubhaar, Thomas, 2012. "Causes and consequences of the downturn in financial remittances to Turkey: A descriptive approach," Edition HWWI: Chapters, in: Paçacı Elitok, Seçil & Straubhaar, Thomas (ed.), Turkey, migration and the EU, volume 5, pages 133-166, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    7. Jean-Paul Azam & Flore Gubert, 2005. "Those in Kayes. The Impact of Remittances on Their Recipients in Africa," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 56(6), pages 1331-1358.
    8. Meyer, Wiebke, 2012. "Motives for remitting from Germany to Kosovo," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 69, number 69, September.
    9. Rapoport, Hillel & Docquier, Frederic, 2006. "The Economics of Migrants' Remittances," Handbook on the Economics of Giving, Reciprocity and Altruism, in: S. Kolm & Jean Mercier Ythier (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Giving, Altruism and Reciprocity, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 17, pages 1135-1198, Elsevier.
    10. Azam, Jean-Paul & Gubert, Flore, 2005. "Migrant Remittances and Economic Development in Africa: A Review of Evidence," IDEI Working Papers 354, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse.
    11. Qiming Liu & Barry Reilly, 2004. "Income transfers of Chinese rural migrants: some empirical evidence from Jinan," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(12), pages 1295-1313.
    12. Dean Yang, 2004. "International Migration, Human Capital, and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Philippine Migrants’ Exchange Rate Shocks," Working Papers 531, Research Seminar in International Economics, University of Michigan.
    13. Stephen Asafo Agyei, 2021. "The Dynamics of Remittances Impact: A Mixed-Method Approach to Understand Ghana’s Situation and the Way Forward," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-21, October.
    14. Francisca M. Antman, 2013. "The impact of migration on family left behind," Chapters, in: Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, chapter 16, pages 293-308, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. William M. Fonta & Elias T. Ayuk & Jude O. Chukwu & Onyukwu E. Onyukwu & Cletus C. Agu & Innocent O. Umenwa, 2015. "Dynamics of remittance utilization by Nigerian households," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 15(4), pages 343-357, October.
    16. Naiditch, Claire & Vranceanu, Radu, 2010. "Equilibrium migration with invested remittances: The EECA evidence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 454-474, December.
    17. Ira N. Gang & Thomas Bauer, 2000. "Return Migrants From Egypt: How Long Did They Stay Abroad?," Departmental Working Papers 199811, Rutgers University, Department of Economics.
    18. Akee, Randall K. Q., 2007. "Who Leaves and Who Returns? Deciphering Immigrant Self-Selection from a Developing Country," IZA Discussion Papers 3268, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Oteng-Abayie, Eric & Awuni, Prosper Ayinbilla & Adjei, Thomas Kwame, 2020. "The Impact of Inward Remittances on Economic Growth in Ghana," African Journal of Economic Review, African Journal of Economic Review, vol. 8(3), November.
    20. McCarthy, Nancy & Carletto, Calogero & Davis, Benjamin & Maltsoglou, Irini, 2006. "Assessing the impact of massive out-migration on agriculture," ESA Working Papers 289053, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Agricultural Development Economics Division (ESA).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:tbs:wpaper:10-002. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask the person in charge to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/istsuge.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.