Migration, Remittances and Public Transfers: Evidence from South Africa

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Migration, Remittances and Public Transfers: Evidence from South Africa

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Alex Sienaert

Abstract

What drives migration and remittance behaviour in South Africa, and what are the implications for public policy? This paper evaluates existing empirical evidence, posits a simple theoretical model and undertakes a fresh evaluation using longitudinal data spanning 1993 to 2004 from KwaZula-Natal province. Findings generally accord with expectations if migration is a family income-optimising strategy, with remittances sustained by migrant altruism. The key policy-relevant result is that receipt of public transfer income raises the likelihood of migration (most likely because migration is costly and households face liquidity constraints) and hence crowds in private transfers on average.

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Paper provided by University of Oxford, Department of Economics in its series Economics Series Working Papers with number 351.

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Date of creation: 2007
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Handle: RePEc:oxf:wpaper:351

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J4 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets
J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

NEP-AFR-2007-09-24 (Africa)
NEP-ALL-2007-09-24 (All new papers)
NEP-DEV-2007-09-24 (Development)
NEP-MIG-2007-09-24 (Economics of Human Migration)
NEP-PBE-2007-09-24 (Public Economics)

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