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Explaining labour market inactivity in migrant-sending families: Housework, hammock, or higher education?

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  • Görlich, Dennis
  • Omar Mahmoud, Toman
  • Trebesch, Christoph

Abstract

This article presents a new perspective on the impact of migration and remittances on labour market participation and time allocation in migrant-sending families. Departing from the common finding that labour market participation is lower in migrant households, we investigate whether the reasons for inactivity, i.e. leisure consumption, home production and higher education are affected by migration. Based on household survey data from Moldova, our results challenge the assertion that those who stay behind consume more leisure. Instead, living in a migrant household implies higher probabilities of intra-household labour substitution and a substantially higher likelihood of university enrolment.

Suggested Citation

  • Görlich, Dennis & Omar Mahmoud, Toman & Trebesch, Christoph, 2007. "Explaining labour market inactivity in migrant-sending families: Housework, hammock, or higher education?," Kiel Working Papers 1391, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:1391
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Clemens, 2010. "A Labor Mobility Agenda for Development," Working Papers 201, Center for Global Development.
    2. Farid Makhlouf & Mazhar Mughal, 2013. "Remittances, Dutch Disease, And Competitiveness: A Bayesian Analysis," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 38(2), pages 67-97, June.
    3. Hiroyuki Taguchi & Bikram Lama, 2016. "Do Emigrant¡¯s Remittances Cause ¡°Dutch Disease¡±? : The Case of Nepal and Bangladesh," Research in Applied Economics, Macrothink Institute, vol. 8(4), pages 1-15, December.
    4. Clemens, Michael A. & Tiongson, Erwin R., 2012. "Split decisions : family finance when a policy discontinuity allocates overseas work," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6287, The World Bank.
    5. Tamar Khitarishvili, 2016. "Gender Dimensions of Inequality in the Countries of Central Asia, South Caucasus, and Western CIS," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_858, Levy Economics Institute.
    6. Farid Makhlouf & Mazhar Mughal, 2013. "Remittances, Dutch Disease, And Competitiveness: A Bayesian Analysis," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 38(2), pages 67-97, June.
    7. Ambrosius, Christian, 2011. "Are Remittances a 'Catalyst' for Financial Access? Evidence from Mexico," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Berlin 2011 5, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    8. Gagnon, Jason, 2010. "“Stay with Us”? The Impact of Emigration on Wages in Honduras," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Hannover 2010 57, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    9. Genc Zhushi & Driton Qehaja, 2024. "Triadic relationship of remittances, migration and labor force," International Journal of Development Issues, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(3), pages 463-488, May.
    10. Michael A. Clemens & Timothy N. Ogden, 2020. "Migration and household finances: How a different framing can improve thinking about migration," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 38(1), pages 3-27, January.
    11. Satish Chand & Michael A. Clemens, 2008. "Skilled emigration and skill creation: A quasi-experiment," International and Development Economics Working Papers idec08-05, International and Development Economics.
    12. Taguchi, Hiroyuki & Shammi, Rifah Tamannah, 2017. "Emigrant’s remittances, Dutch Disease and capital accumulation: the case of Bangladesh," MPRA Paper 80703, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Jun 2017.
    13. Shair, Waqas & Tariq Majeed, Muhammad & Ali, Amjad, 2021. "Labour Participation Decision and Preferences towards Different Employment Status in Response to Remittances: Evidence from the Provincial Capital of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KPK), Pakistan," MPRA Paper 106330, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Michael Clemens and Timothy N. Ogden, 2014. "Migration as a Strategy for Household Finance: A Research Agenda on Remittances, Payments, and Development- Working Paper 354," Working Papers 354, Center for Global Development.
    15. Chowdhury, Mamta B., 2011. "Remittances flow and financial development in Bangladesh," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 2600-2608.
    16. Pfeiffer, Friedhelm, 2014. "The Impact of Parents Migration on the Well-being of Children Left Behind: Initial Evidence from Romania," IZA Discussion Papers 8225, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Hiroyuki Taguchi & Rifah Tamannah Shammi, 2018. "Emigrant’s Remittances, Dutch Disease and Capital Accumulation in Bangladesh," South Asian Journal of Macroeconomics and Public Finance, , vol. 7(1), pages 60-82, June.
    18. Shreya Pal, 2023. "Does Remittance and Human Capital Formation Affect Financial Development? A Comparative Analysis Between India and China," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 30(2), pages 387-426, June.
    19. Konte M., 2014. "Do remittances not promote growth? : a bias-adjusted three-step mixture-of-regressions," MERIT Working Papers 2014-075, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    20. Bouton, Lawrence & Paul, Saumik & Tiongson, Erwin R., 2011. "The impact of emigration on source country wages : evidence from the Republic of Moldova," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5764, The World Bank.
    21. Antonio Martuscelli & Michael Gasiorek, 2019. "Regional Integration And Poverty: A Review Of The Transmission Channels And The Evidence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 431-457, April.
    22. Kashif Imran & Evelyn S. Devadason & Cheong Kee Cheok, 2019. "Developmental Impacts of Remittances on Migrant-Sending Households: Micro-Level Evidence from Punjab, Pakistan," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 14(3), pages 338-366, December.
    23. Taguchi, Hiroyuki & Lar, Ni, 2017. "Emigrant’s remittances, Dutch Disease and capital accumulation in Mekong countries," MPRA Paper 80637, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Remittances; Labour Supply; Time Allocation; Moldova; Migration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • C35 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions

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