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Begin New Search Topic Remittances Political Geography Nicaragua

1. The Static and Dynamic Benefits of Migration and Remittances in Nicaragua

Author:
Lykke E. Andersen and Bent Jesper Christensen
Publication Date:
08-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This paper utilizes a unique three-wave panel of household data from Nicaragua, which allows a thorough exploration of the relationships between migration, remittances and household consumption. The paper distinguishes between the effects of emigration and the impacts of remittances received. There is a self-selection bias in the decision to send a migrant, as well as in the decision to receive remittances. To adequately correct for these selection biases, we develop a bivariate selection correction procedure. Perhaps surprisingly, the results show that households do not benefit (in terms of higher consumption growth) from receiving remittances, but rather from having migrants abroad. This suggests that not only money are remitted from abroad, but also something more subtle, which could be business ideas, belief systems, aspirations, patterns of social interaction, and other intangibles, which have been dubbed social remittances.
Topic:
Development, Migration, Economy, and Remittances
Political Geography:
Central America and Nicaragua

2. The Impact of Aid on Recipient Behavior: A Micro-Level Dynamic Analysis of Remittances, Schooling, Work, Consumption, Investment and Social Mobility in Nicaragua

Author:
Lykke E. Andersen, Bent Jesper Christensen, and Oscar Molina Tejerina
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
Remittances are a very important source of income for many Nicaraguan families. More than 40% of all households receive remittances that on average amount to 12-15% of total household income in these households. More than 30% of these households receive remittances at least monthly, implying that it is a relatively stable source of income. This paper shows that remittances do tend to reduce the vulnerability of households and increase their upward social mobility, at least as long as the households do not depend too heavily on remittances. However, remittances also cause moral hazard problems. Nicaraguans tend to reduce their labor supply in response to more remittances, and they also tend to reduce their savings rates, both of which are detrimental to long run economic growth.
Topic:
Foreign Aid, Investment, Behavior, Remittances, and Social Mobility
Political Geography:
Central America and Nicaragua