Why Remit? The Case of Nicaragua
Abstract
In the last two decades remittances have gained interest due to their large size. For several developing countries remittances constitute a large portion of their GDP and sometimes exceed FDI. While FDIs are usually profit driven, it is not clear what the driving force behind remittances is. This paper presents a simple theoretical model of migrants' remitting behavior. I consider two general motivations for remitting: altruism and self-interest. Using a heteroskedastic Tobit with a known form of variance I test the findings of the theoretical model with data from Nicaragua. Evidence suggests that migrants from Nicaragua remit for altruistic reasons. Moreover some gender heterogeneity seems to exist in the remitting behavior.Download Info
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Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 3276.Length: 46 pages
Date of creation: Jan 2008
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3276
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Related research
Keywords: altruism; censored regression; remittances; Central America; Nicaragua;Other versions of this item:
- Naufal, George S, 2007. "Who Remits? The Case of Nicaragua," IZA Discussion Papers 3081, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
- O15 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
- D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2008-02-02 (All new papers)
- NEP-DEV-2008-02-02 (Development)
- NEP-MIG-2008-02-02 (Economics of Human Migration)
References
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- 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.
- Knowles, James C. & Anker, Richard, 1981. "An analysis of income transfers in a developing country : The case of Kenya," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 205-226, April.
Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Giulia BETTIN & Riccardo LUCCHETTI & Alberto ZAZZARO, 2011.
"Endogeneity and sample selection in a model for remittances,"
Working Papers
361, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
- Bettin, Giulia & Lucchetti, Riccardo & Zazzaro, Alberto, 2012. "Endogeneity and sample selection in a model for remittances," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 370-384.
- Bettin, Giulia & Lucchetti, Riccardo & Zazzaro, Alberto, 2009.
"Income, consumption and remittances: Evidence from immigrants to Australia,"
HWWI Research Papers
3-21, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
- Giulia Bettin & Riccardo Lucchetti & Alberto Zazzaro, 2009. "Income, consumption and remittances: evidence from immigrants to Australia," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 34, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
- Simon Davies, 2011. "What Motivates Gifts? Intra-Family Transfers in Rural Malawi," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 32(3), pages 473-492, September.
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