IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-09-00662.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effect of Remittances on Child Labor: Cross-Country Evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Christian Hubert Ebeke

    (CERDI-Université d''Auvergne Clermont 1 (FRANCE))

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between migrants remittances and the prevalence of child labor by using a large sample of developing countries. In particular, we investigate whether the inflow of remittances helps to offset the effects of financial constraints and income shocks on the prevalence of child labor. From on a sample of 82 developing countries (of which 31 are African) observed in the year 2000 and after taking into account the endogeneity of remittances, migration and financial development, we show that remittances reduce significantly the prevalence of child labor in developing countries characterized by weak financial systems and by strong income instability. However, we have not found a statistically significant relationship between adults emigration and child labor at home.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian Hubert Ebeke, 2010. "The Effect of Remittances on Child Labor: Cross-Country Evidence," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 30(1), pages 351-364.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-09-00662
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2010/Volume30/EB-10-V30-I1-P30.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Davies, Ronald B. & Voy, Annie, 2009. "The effect of FDI on child labor," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 59-66, January.
    2. Edmonds, Eric V. & Pavcnik, Nina, 2006. "International trade and child labor: Cross-country evidence," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 115-140, January.
    3. Alan Krueger, 1996. "Observations on International Labor Standards and Trade," Working Papers 741, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    4. Neumayer, Eric & de Soysa, Indra, 2005. "Trade Openness, Foreign Direct Investment and Child Labor," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 43-63, January.
    5. Giuliano, Paola & Ruiz-Arranz, Marta, 2009. "Remittances, financial development, and growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 144-152, September.
    6. Djankov, Simeon & McLiesh, Caralee & Shleifer, Andrei, 2007. "Private credit in 129 countries," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 299-329, May.
    7. Borraz Fernando, 2005. "Assessing the Impact of Remittances on Schooling: the Mexican Experience," Global Economy Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-32, April.
    8. Calero, Carla & Bedi, Arjun S. & Sparrow, Robert, 2009. "Remittances, Liquidity Constraints and Human Capital Investments in Ecuador," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 1143-1154, June.
    9. Abdih, Yasser & Chami, Ralph & Dagher, Jihad & Montiel, Peter, 2012. "Remittances and Institutions: Are Remittances a Curse?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 657-666.
    10. Ranjan, Priya, 2001. "Credit constraints and the phenomenon of child labor," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 81-102, February.
    11. Ranjan, Priya, 1999. "An economic analysis of child labor," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 99-105, July.
    12. Gallup, John & Sachs, Jeffrey, 1999. "Geography and Economic Development," Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) Papers 294434, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government.
    13. Alejandra Cox Edwards & Manuelita Ureta, 2003. "International Migration, Remittances, and Schooling: Evidence from El Salvador," NBER Working Papers 9766, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Duryea, Suzanne & Lam, David & Levison, Deborah, 2007. "Effects of economic shocks on children's employment and schooling in Brazil," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 188-214, September.
    15. Dehejia, Rajeev H & Gatti, Roberta, 2005. "Child Labor: The Role of Financial Development and Income Variability across Countries," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(4), pages 913-932, July.
    16. Gallup, J.L. & Sachs, J.D. & Mullinger, A., 1999. "Geography and Economic Development," Papers 1, Chicago - Graduate School of Business.
    17. Sanket Mohapatra & George Joseph & Dilip Ratha, 2012. "Remittances and natural disasters: ex-post response and contribution to ex-ante preparedness," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 365-387, June.
    18. Freund, Caroline & Spatafora, Nikola, 2008. "Remittances, transaction costs, and informality," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 356-366, June.
    19. Flug, Karnit & Spilimbergo, Antonio & Wachtenheim, Erik, 1998. "Investment in education: do economic volatility and credit constraints matter?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 465-481, April.
    20. Alan B. Krueger, 1996. "Observations on International Labor Standards and Trade," NBER Working Papers 5632, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Edwards, Alejandra Cox & Ureta, Manuelita, 2003. "International migration, remittances, and schooling: evidence from El Salvador," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 429-461, December.
    22. Acosta, Pablo & Fajnzylber, Pablo & Lopez, J. Humberto, 2007. "The impact of remittances on poverty and human capital : evidence from Latin American household surveys," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4247, The World Bank.
    23. Frédéric Docquier & B. Lindsay Lowell & Abdeslam Marfouk, 2009. "A Gendered Assessment of Highly Skilled Emigration," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 35(2), pages 297-321, June.
    24. Beegle, Kathleen & Dehejia, Rajeev H. & Gatti, Roberta, 2006. "Child labor and agricultural shocks," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 80-96, October.
    25. John Luke Gallup & Jeffrey D. Sachs & Andrew Mellinger, 1999. "Geography and Economic Development," CID Working Papers 1, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    26. David McKenzie & Hillel Rapoport, 2011. "Can migration reduce educational attainment? Evidence from Mexico," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(4), pages 1331-1358, October.
    27. Cigno, Alessandro & Rosati, Furio C. & Guarcello, Lorenzo, 2002. "Does Globalization Increase Child Labor?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(9), pages 1579-1589, September.
    28. Gallup, John L. & Sachs, Jeffrey D. & Mellinger, Andrew, "undated". "Geography and Economic Development," Instructional Stata datasets for econometrics geodata, Boston College Department of Economics.
    29. repec:fth:prinin:362 is not listed on IDEAS
    30. David McKenzie & Hillel Rapoport, 2006. "Can Migration Reduce Educational Attainments? Depressing Evidence from Mexico," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 0601, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    31. Lorenzo Guarcello & Fabrizia Mealli & Furio Rosati, 2010. "Household vulnerability and child labor: the effect of shocks, credit rationing, and insurance," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(1), pages 169-198, January.
    32. Cynthia Bansak & Brian Chezum, 2009. "How Do Remittances Affect Human Capital Formation of School-Age Boys and Girls?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 145-148, May.
    33. Robert C. Shelburne, 2001. "An Explanation of the International Variation in the Prevalence of Child Labour," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 359-378, March.
    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. Jean-Louis COMBES & Christian EBEKE & Mathilde MAUREL, 2011. "Remittances and the Prevalence of Working Poor," Working Papers 201109, CERDI.
    2. Delphine Boutin, 2011. "Envoi de fonds et allocation du temps des enfants au Niger : L’effet indirect des chocs négatifs," Larefi Working Papers 201105, Larefi, Université Bordeaux 4.
    3. Christian Hubert Ebeke, 2012. "Do remittances lead to a public moral hazard in developing countries? An empirical investigation," Post-Print hal-00807100, HAL.
    4. Ralitza Dimova & Gil S. Epstein & Ira N. Gang, 2015. "Migration, Transfers and Child Labor," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 735-747, August.
    5. Jamal Bouoiyour & Amal Miftah, 2013. "Transferts de fonds, éducation et travail des enfants au Maroc. Une analyse par score de propension," Working Papers hal-01880343, HAL.
    6. Bargain, Olivier & Boutin, Delphine, 2014. "Remittances and Child Labour in Africa: Evidence from Burkina Faso," IZA Discussion Papers 8007, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Christian EBEKE, 2010. "Transferts des migrants, ouverture sur l'extérieur et dépenses publiques dans les pays en développement," Working Papers 201011, CERDI.
    8. Delphine Boutin, 2011. "Envoi de fonds et allocation du temps des enfants au Niger : L'effet indirect des chocs négatifs," Working Papers hal-00637607, HAL.
    9. Jamal Bouoiyour & Amal Miftah, 2013. "Transferts de fonds, éducation et travail des enfants au Maroc. Une analyse par score de propension," Working Papers hal-01880343, HAL.
    10. Delphine Boutin, 2011. "Envoi de fonds et allocation du temps des enfants au Niger : L’effet indirect des chocs négatifs," Larefi Working Papers 1105, Larefi, Université Bordeaux 4.

    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. Ebeke, Christian Hubert, 2012. "The power of remittances on the international prevalence of child labor," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 452-462.
    2. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:30:y:2010:i:1:p:351-364 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Delphine Boutin, 2011. "Envoi de fonds et allocation du temps des enfants au Niger : L’effet indirect des chocs négatifs," Larefi Working Papers 201105, Larefi, Université Bordeaux 4.
    4. Delphine Boutin, 2011. "Envoi de fonds et allocation du temps des enfants au Niger : L'effet indirect des chocs négatifs," Working Papers hal-00637607, HAL.
    5. Delphine Boutin, 2011. "Envoi de fonds et allocation du temps des enfants au Niger : L’effet indirect des chocs négatifs," Larefi Working Papers 1105, Larefi, Université Bordeaux 4.
    6. Nguyen, Cuong Viet & Nguyen, Hoa Quynh, 2015. "Do internal and international remittances matter to health, education and labor of children and adolescents? The case of Vietnam," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 28-34.
    7. Aïssata COULIBALY, 2016. "Revisiting the Relationship between Financial Development and Child Labor in Developing Countries: Do Inequality and Institutions Matter?," Working Papers 201619, CERDI.
    8. Heather Congdon Fors, 2012. "Child Labour: A Review Of Recent Theory And Evidence With Policy Implications," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 570-593, September.
    9. Nguyen, Cuong & Nguyen, Hoa, 2013. "Do Internal and International Remittances Matter to Health, Education and Labor of Children? The Case of Vietnam," MPRA Paper 48672, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Bargain, Olivier & Boutin, Delphine, 2014. "Remittances and Child Labour in Africa: Evidence from Burkina Faso," IZA Discussion Papers 8007, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Aggarwal, Reena & Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli & Pería, Maria Soledad Martínez, 2011. "Do remittances promote financial development?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 255-264, November.
    12. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Pozo, Susan, 2010. "Accounting for Remittance and Migration Effects on Children's Schooling," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(12), pages 1747-1759, December.
    13. Dagdemir, Ozcan & Acaroglu, Hakan, 2010. "The effects of globalization on child labor in developing countries," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center (PRADEC), vol. 2(2), pages 1-12, July.
    14. Imtiaz Arif & Syed Ali Raza & Anita Friemann & Muhammad Tahir Suleman, 2019. "The Role of Remittances in the Development of Higher Education: Evidence from Top Remittance Receiving Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 1233-1243, February.
    15. Leonardo Bonilla-Mejía, 2017. "Choques externos y remesas internacionales en las regiones de Colombia," Revista ESPE - Ensayos sobre Política Económica, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, vol. 35(84), pages 189-202, December.
    16. Calero, Carla & Bedi, Arjun S. & Sparrow, Robert, 2009. "Remittances, Liquidity Constraints and Human Capital Investments in Ecuador," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 1143-1154, June.
    17. Alcaraz, Carlo & Chiquiar, Daniel & Salcedo, Alejandrina, 2012. "Remittances, schooling, and child labor in Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 156-165.
    18. Azizi, SeyedSoroosh, 2018. "The impacts of workers' remittances on human capital and labor supply in developing countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 377-396.
    19. Koska, Onur A. & Saygin, Perihan Özge & Çağatay, Selim & Artal-Tur, Andrés, 2013. "International migration, remittances, and the human capital formation of Egyptian children," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 38-50.
    20. Alassane DRABO & Christian EBEKE, 2010. "Remittances, Public Health Spending and Foreign Aid in the Access to Health Care Services in Developing Countries," Working Papers 201004, CERDI.
    21. Cristina Cattaneo, 2012. "Migrants’ international transfers and educational expenditure," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 20(1), pages 163-193, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Remittances; Financial development; Income variability; Child labor; Instrumental variables;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F4 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development

    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:ebl:ecbull:eb-09-00662. 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: John P. Conley (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.