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Determinants of Remittances: Recent Evidence Using Data on Internal Migrants in Vietnam

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  • Yoko Niimi
  • Thai Hung Pham
  • Barry Reilly

Abstract

The present paper examines the determinants of remittance behavior for Vietnam using data from the 2004 Vietnam Migration Survey on internal migrants. It considers how, among other things, the vulnerability of a migrant's life at the destination, their link to relatives back home, and the time spent at the destination affect remittances. The paper finds that migrants act as risk‐averse economic agents and send remittances back to the household of origin as part of an insurance exercise in the face of economic uncertainty. Remittances are also found to be driven by a migrant's labor market earnings level. The paper highlights the important role of remittances in providing an effective means of risk‐coping and mutual support within the family.

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  • Yoko Niimi & Thai Hung Pham & Barry Reilly, 2009. "Determinants of Remittances: Recent Evidence Using Data on Internal Migrants in Vietnam," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 23(1), pages 19-39, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:asiaec:v:23:y:2009:i:1:p:19-39
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8381.2009.02000.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Hien, Nguyen Thi Thu, 2019. "Consequences of urban migration of adult children for the elderly left-behind in rural Vietnam," OSF Preprints zxyf8, Center for Open Science.
    2. Chang, Hongqin & Dong, Xiao-yuan & MacPhail, Fiona, 2011. "Labor Migration and Time Use Patterns of the Left-behind Children and Elderly in Rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 2199-2210.
    3. Nguyen, Quang & Villeval, Marie Claire & Xu, Hui, 2012. "Trust and Trustworthiness under the Prospect Theory: A Field Experiment in Vietnam," IZA Discussion Papers 6851, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Chunshan Zhou & Ming Li & Guojun Zhang & Yuqu Wang & Song Liu, 2020. "Heterogeneity of Internal Migrant Household Consumption in Host Cities: A Comparison of Skilled Migrants and Labor Migrants in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-16, September.
    5. Nguyen, Cuong & van den Berg, Marrit & Lensink, Robert, 2009. "The Impact of International Remittances on Income, Work Efforts, Poverty and Inequality: Evidence from Vietnam," MPRA Paper 50313, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Florence Arestoff & Mélanie Kuhn & El Mouhoud Mouhoub, 2012. "Transferts de fonds des migrants en Afrique du Sud. Les conditions de départ du pays d'origine sont-elles déterminantes ?," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 63(3), pages 513-522.
    7. Sandhya R. Mahapatro, 2017. "Why Do they Remit? Examining Factors Influencing Migrant Remittances in India," Journal of Development Policy and Practice, , vol. 2(2), pages 225-235, July.
    8. Fukase, Emiko, 2013. "Foreign job opportunities and internal migration in Vietnam," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6420, The World Bank.
    9. Fethiye Kaya Tilbe, 2023. "Labour market, social welfare, and migrant remittance: COVID-19 implications in the UK," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    10. Grote, Ulrike & Waibel, Hermann, 2017. "Rural-Urban Migration, Welfare and Employment : Comparing Results from Thailand and Vietnam," 2017 ASAE 9th International Conference, January 11-13, Bangkok, Thailand 284809, Asian Society of Agricultural Economists (ASAE).
    11. Yaw Nyarko and Kwabena Gyimah-Brempong, 2011. "Social Safety Nets: The Role of Education, Remittances and Migration," EUI-RSCAS Working Papers 26, European University Institute (EUI), Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies (RSCAS).
    12. Seonho Shin, 2022. "Labor market impact of COVID‐19 on migrants in South Korea: Evidence from local outbreaks," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 229-260, September.
    13. Bierkamp, Sina & Nguyen, Trung Thanh & Grote, Ulrike, 2021. "Environmental income and remittances: Evidence from rural central highlands of Vietnam," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    14. Yilmaz Onur ARI & Ibrahim BELLO, 2020. "Terrorism - workers' remittances nexus: empirical evidence from Turkey," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 11, pages 70-93, December.
    15. Coxhead, Ian & Vu, Linh & Nguyen, Cuong, 2016. "Migration in Vietnam: New Evidence from Recent Surveys," MPRA Paper 70217, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. repec:dau:papers:123456789/10118 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Loc Duc Nguyen & Ulrike Grote & Rasadhika Sharma, 2017. "Staying in the cities or returning home? An analysis of the rural-urban migration behavior in Vietnam," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-18, December.
    18. Hagen-Zanker, Jessica, 2010. "Modest expectations: Causes and effects of migration on migrant households in source countries," MPRA Paper 29507, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Sharma, Rasadhika & Grote, Ulrike, 2018. "Who remits and why? Evidence on internal migrant remittances from Vietnam and Thailand," TVSEP Working Papers wp-009, Leibniz Universitaet Hannover, Institute of Development and Agricultural Economics, Project TVSEP.
    20. Nguyen, Loc Duc & Raabe, Katharina & Grote, Ulrike, 2015. "Rural–Urban Migration, Household Vulnerability, and Welfare in Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 79-93.
    21. Phan, Diep & Coxhead, Ian, 2016. "Rural-Urban Migration and Remittances in Vietnam Evidence from Migrant Tracer Data," Staff Paper Series 581, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    22. Nguyen, Giang, 2018. "Consumption behavior of migrant households in Vietnam: Remittances, duration of stay, and the household registration system," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-12.
    23. Tolorunju, E. T. & Dipeolu, A. O. & Sanusi, R. A., 2018. "Effects of Domestic Remittances on Poverty Status of Rural Households in Ogun State, Nigeria," Nigerian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Nigerian Journal of Agricultural Economics, vol. 8(1), October.
    24. Emiko Fukase, 2014. "Job Opportunities in Foreign Firms and Internal Migration in Vietnam," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 28(3), pages 279-299, September.

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