IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/bamber/97.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Remittances' impact on the labor supply and on the deficit of current account

Author

Listed:
  • Meyer, Dietmar
  • Shera, Adela

Abstract

Remittances as one of the main benefits of international migration have a great and important impact on the countries of origins and make migration a topic of special interest for many researchers. Workers' remittances represent an important financial flows and a major source of private external finance for many developing countries, which they receive them in large quantity. For many economies, remittances represent a sizable and stable source of funds that sometimes exceed official aid or financial inflows from foreign direct investment. One substantial drawback of remittances is that it means developing economies lose their best, most skilled young workers. It can lead to a situation where so many adults have migrated to a richer country; children are being brought up by grandparents. This has both an economic and social cost. The economy loses because young workers are not available; society loses out by the displacement effect of young adults not being there. On the other hand, people wouldn't undertake the upheaval of moving to other countries, if they didn't think their families would benefit and the country benefits too. The free movement of labor enables greater opportunities for people in developing economies and also helps developing economies gain important foreign currency revenue. Developed countries benefit from a more elastic supply of labor, enabling greater labor market flexibility. Remittances may increase consumption and enhance investments and have a significant impact to finance economic growth in receiving economies. In particular, migrants' transfers of funds, being inflows of foreign currencies that can be used to repay foreign debt, are less volatile compared to other financial flows. For some countries money sent back in the form of remittances from migrant workers are mostly used for consumption and investments and comprise a substantial portion of GDP and their balance of payments. This paper examines the impact of remittances as an income source to finance the balance of payment deficit. First, it documents the increasing share of remittances relative to other foreign capital flows to Albania and Southeast countries, distribution of remittance inflows across countries. This is followed by some analysis of the potential benefits and costs of remittances in recipient countries. The paper drawing on the case of Albania, Serbia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Moldova, Bulgaria, Romania and Republic of Macedonia, the paper shows the positive impact that rising remittances can have on the improvement of current account balance. Finally, also examines the role of remittances in funding decreasing Albanian National Debt. Workers' remittances to Albania are nevertheless an important financial flow-with perhaps, significant developmental effects. Albania earns a large amount of worker's remittances which since 1992 they have grown rapidly. It is well known that they represent the second largest inflow of incomes, are less costly and increased mostly consumption level. Our results point the positive impact of remittances in financing the deficit of the balance of payments and are a stable source of incomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Meyer, Dietmar & Shera, Adela, 2015. "Remittances' impact on the labor supply and on the deficit of current account," BERG Working Paper Series 97, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:bamber:97
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/107124/1/81715471X.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Witte, Björn-Christopher, 2011. "Removing systematic patterns in returns in a financial market model by artificially intelligent traders," BERG Working Paper Series 82, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    2. Wenzel, Heinz-Dieter & Lackenbauer, Jörg & Brösamle, Klaus J., 2004. "Public Debt and the Future of the EU's Stability and Growth Pact," BERG Working Paper Series 50, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    3. Pfeffer, Annamaria, 2010. "Staatliche Zinssubvention und Auslandsverschuldung: Eine Mittelwert-Varianz-Analyse am Beispiel Ungarn," BERG Working Paper Series 72, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    4. Bexheti, Abdulmenaf, 2010. "Anti-crisis measures in the republic of Macedonia and their effects: Are they sufficient?," BERG Working Paper Series 70, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    5. Schmitt, Noemi & Westerhoff, Frank, 2014. "Speculative behavior and the dynamics of interacting stock markets," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 262-288.
    6. Tuinstra, Jan & Wegener, Michael & Westerhoff, Frank, 2013. "Positive welfare effects of trade barriers in a dynamic equilibrium model," BERG Working Paper Series 91, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    7. Philipp Mundt & Simone Alfarano & Mishael Milakovic, 2016. "Gibrat’s Law Redux: think profitability instead of growth," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 25(4), pages 549-571.
    8. Nusser, Michael, 1998. "The implications of innovations and wage structure rigidity on economic growth and unemployment: A Schumpeterian approach to endogenous growth theory," BERG Working Paper Series 26, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    9. Bernd Hayo & Matthias Wrede, 2004. "Fiscal equalisation: Principles and an application to the European Union," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 23(3), pages 333-348, December.
    10. Wagener, Sibylle, 2003. "Fiskalischer Föderalismus: Theoretische Grundlagen und Studie Ungarns," BERG Working Paper Series 46, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    11. Lines Marji & Westerhoff Frank, 2012. "Effects of Inflation Expectations on Macroeconomic Dynamics: Extrapolative Versus Regressive Expectations," Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 16(4), pages 1-30, October.
    12. Treier, Volker, 1999. "Unemployment in reforming countries: Causes, fiscal impacts and the success of transformation," BERG Working Paper Series 29, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    13. Westerhoff, Frank & Franke, Reiner, 2012. "Agent-based models for economic policy design: Two illustrative examples," BERG Working Paper Series 88, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    14. Maußner, Alfred, 1998. "Außengeld in berechenbaren Konjunkturmodellen: Modellstrukturen und numerische Eigenschaften," BERG Working Paper Series 25, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    15. Wrede, Matthias, 1999. "A note on reliefs for traveling expenses to work," BERG Working Paper Series 30, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    16. Witte, Björn-Christopher, 2009. "Temporal information gaps and market efficiency: A dynamic behavioral analysis," BERG Working Paper Series 64, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    17. Aßmann, Christian, 2008. "Assessing the Effect of Current Account and Currency Crises on Economic Growth," Economics Working Papers 2008-01, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Department of Economics.
    18. Guido Heineck, 2014. "Love Thy Neighbor: Religion and Prosocial Behavior," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 704, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    19. Wunder, Christoph & Heineck, Guido, 2013. "Working time preferences, hours mismatch and well-being of couples: Are there spillovers?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 244-252.
    20. Antoni, Manfred & Heineck, Guido, 2012. "Do literacy and numeracy pay off? On the relationship between basic skills and earnings," BERG Working Paper Series 86, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    21. Wenzel, Heinz-Dieter (Ed.), 2007. "Der Kaspische Raum: Ausgewählte Themen zu Politik und Wirtschaft," BERG Working Paper Series 57, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    22. Alfarano Simone & Milakovic Mishael, 2012. "Identification of Interaction Effects in Survey Expectations: A Cautionary Note," Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 16(4), pages 1-23, October.
    23. Kurt A. Hafner, 2015. "Tax Competition and Economic Integration," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(1), pages 45-61, February.
    24. Malaj, Arben & Mema, Fatmir & Hida, Sybi, 2005. "Albania, financial management in the education system: Higher education," BERG Working Paper Series 54, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    25. Schwarze, Nicolas Henrik, 2003. "Ein Modell für Finanzkrisen bei Moral Hazard und Überinvestition," BERG Working Paper Series 44, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    26. Nusser, Michael, 1999. "The implications of wage structure rigidity on human capital accumulation, economic growth and unemployment: A Schumpeterian approach to endogenous growth theory," BERG Working Paper Series 28, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    27. Wrede, Matthias, 1998. "Pareto efficiency of the pay-as-you-go pension system in a three-period-OLG model," BERG Working Paper Series 27, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    28. Kalusche, Johannes, 2010. "Die Auswirkungen der Steuer- und Sozialreformen der Jahre 1999 - 2005 auf die automatischen Stabilisatoren Deutschlands," BERG Working Paper Series 76, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    29. Tramontana, Fabio & Westerhoff, Frank & Gardini, Laura, 2013. "The bull and bear market model of Huang and Day: Some extensions and new results," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 2351-2370.
    30. Quis, Johanna Sophie, 2015. "Does higher learning intensity affect student well-being? Evidence from the National Educational Panel Study," BERG Working Paper Series 94, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    31. Westerhoff, Frank, 2009. "A simple agent-based financial market model: Direct interactions and comparisons of trading profits," BERG Working Paper Series 61, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    32. Dieci, Roberto & Westerhoff, Frank, 2011. "On the inherent instability of international financial markets: Natural nonlinear interactions between stock and foreign exchange markets," BERG Working Paper Series 79, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    33. Bogdani, Irena Dh., 2002. "Public expenditure planning in Albania," BERG Working Paper Series 39, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    34. Herber, Stefanie P., 2015. "The role of information in the application for merit-based scholarships: Evidence from a randomized field experiment," BERG Working Paper Series 95, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    35. Kola, Tonin & Liko, Elida, 2008. "An empirical assessment of alternative exchange rate regimes in medium term in Albania," BERG Working Paper Series 58, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    36. Gervai, Pál & Trautmann, László & Wieszt, Attila, 2010. "The mission and culture of the corporation," BERG Working Paper Series 74, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    37. Franke, Reiner & Westerhoff, Frank, 2012. "Structural stochastic volatility in asset pricing dynamics: Estimation and model contest," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 1193-1211.
    38. Herber, Stefanie, 2015. "The Role of Information in the Application for Merit-Based Scholarships: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113058, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    39. Stübben, Felix & Lackenbauer, Jörg & Wenzel, Heinz-Dieter, 2005. "Eine Dekade wirtschaftlicher Transformation in den Westbalkanstaaten: Ein Überblick," BERG Working Paper Series 53, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    40. Haensgen, Tineke, 2002. "Das Kyoto Protokoll: Eine ökonomische Analyse unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der flexiblen Mechanismen," BERG Working Paper Series 40, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    41. Bersch, Julia, 2004. "AK-Modell mit Staatsverschuldung und fester Defizitquote," BERG Working Paper Series 48, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    42. Roberto Dieci & Frank Westerhoff, 2012. "A simple model of a speculative housing market," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 303-329, April.
    43. Carsten Eckel, 2009. "International Trade and Retailing," CESifo Working Paper Series 2597, CESifo.
    44. Jenei, György, 2009. "A post-accession crisis? Political developments and public sector modernization in Hungary," BERG Working Paper Series 67, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    45. Wrede, Matthias, 1999. "Mobility and reliefs for traveling expenses to work," BERG Working Paper Series 33, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    46. Malaj, Arben & Mema, Fatmir, 2003. "Strategic privatisation: Its achievements and challenges," BERG Working Paper Series 41, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    47. Thiel, Elke, 2004. "European Integration of Albania : Economic Aspects," BERG Working Paper Series 49, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    48. Witte, Björn-Christopher, 2011. "Fund managers - why the best might be the worst: On the evolutionary vigor of risk-seeking behavior," BERG Working Paper Series 81, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    49. Gaber, Stevan, 2010. "Economic implications from deficit finance," BERG Working Paper Series 69, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    50. Kremer, Jana, 1999. "Arbeitslosigkeit und Steuerpolitik," BERG Working Paper Series 32, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    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. Lena Dräger & Christian R. Proaño, 2015. "Cross-Border Banking and Business Cycles in Asymmetric Currency Unions," Macroeconomics and Finance Series 201501, University of Hamburg, Department of Socioeconomics.
    2. Cynthia TABET & Michel ROCCA & Bachir EL MURR, 2022. "Transferts de fonds et effet boomerang : le cas du Liban (1990-2016)," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 55, pages 133-148.
    3. Herold, Florian & Kuzmics, Christoph, 2020. "The evolution of taking roles," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 38-63.
    4. Lojak, Benjamin, 2016. "Sentiment-driven investment, non-linear corporate debt dynamics and co-existing business cycle regimes," BERG Working Paper Series 112, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    5. Schmitt, Noemi & Westerhoff, Frank, 2018. "Evolutionary Competition And Profit Taxes: Market Stability Versus Tax Burden," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(8), pages 2007-2031, December.
    6. March, Christoph & Sahm, Marco, 2018. "Contests as selection mechanisms: The impact of risk aversion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 114-131.
    7. Noemi Schmitt & Frank Westerhoff, 2017. "Herding behaviour and volatility clustering in financial markets," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(8), pages 1187-1203, August.
    8. Schmitt, Noemi & Tuinstra, Jan & Westerhoff, Frank, 2017. "Side effects of nonlinear profit taxes in an evolutionary market entry model: Abrupt changes, coexisting attractors and hysteresis problems," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 15-38.
    9. March, Christoph & Sahm, Marco, 2017. "Asymmetric discouragement in asymmetric contests," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 23-27.
    10. Fatoke Dato, Mafaizath A., 2015. "Impact of income shock on children’s schooling and labor in a West African country," MPRA Paper 64317, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Fatoke-Dato, Mafaïzath A., 2015. "Impact of an educational demand-and-supply policy on girls' education in West Africa: Heterogeneity in income, school environment and ethnicity," BERG Working Paper Series 101, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    12. González-Díaz, Julio & Herold, Florian & Domínguez, Diego, 2016. "Strategic sequential voting," BERG Working Paper Series 113, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    13. Bexheti, Abdylmenaf & Mustafi, Besime, 2015. "Impact of public funding of education on economic growth in Macedonia," BERG Working Paper Series 98, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    14. Sahm, Marco, 2017. "Are sequential round-robin tournaments discriminatory?," BERG Working Paper Series 121, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    15. Proaño, Christian R. & Lojak, Benjamin, 2015. "Debt stabilization and macroeconomic volatility in monetary unions under heterogeneous sovereign risk perceptions," BERG Working Paper Series 106, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    16. Sahm, Marco, 2016. "Advance-purchase financing of projects with few buyers," BERG Working Paper Series 118, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    17. Sahm, Marco, 2017. "Risk aversion and prudence in contests," BERG Working Paper Series 120, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.

    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. Schmitt, Noemi & Tuinstra, Jan & Westerhoff, Frank, 2017. "Side effects of nonlinear profit taxes in an evolutionary market entry model: Abrupt changes, coexisting attractors and hysteresis problems," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 15-38.
    2. Fatoke Dato, Mafaizath A., 2015. "Impact of income shock on children’s schooling and labor in a West African country," MPRA Paper 64317, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Schmitt, Noemi & Westerhoff, Frank, 2018. "Evolutionary Competition And Profit Taxes: Market Stability Versus Tax Burden," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(8), pages 2007-2031, December.
    4. Fatoke-Dato, Mafaïzath A., 2015. "Impact of an educational demand-and-supply policy on girls' education in West Africa: Heterogeneity in income, school environment and ethnicity," BERG Working Paper Series 101, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    5. Proaño, Christian R. & Lojak, Benjamin, 2015. "Debt stabilization and macroeconomic volatility in monetary unions under heterogeneous sovereign risk perceptions," BERG Working Paper Series 106, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    6. Bexheti, Abdylmenaf & Mustafi, Besime, 2015. "Impact of public funding of education on economic growth in Macedonia," BERG Working Paper Series 98, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    7. Dräger, Lena & Proaño, Christian R., 2015. "Cross-border banking and business cycles in asymmetric currency unions," Discussion Papers 21/2015, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    8. Noemi Schmitt & Frank Westerhoff, 2017. "Herding behaviour and volatility clustering in financial markets," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(8), pages 1187-1203, August.
    9. Seregi, János & Lelovics, Zsuzsanna & Balogh, László, 2012. "The social welfare function of forests in the light of the theory of public goods," BERG Working Paper Series 87, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    10. Franke, Reiner & Westerhoff, Frank, 2011. "Why a simple herding model may generate the stylized facts of daily returns: Explanation and estimation," BERG Working Paper Series 83, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    11. Imami, Drini & Lami, Endrit & Kächelein, Holger, 2011. "Political cycles in income from privatization: The case of Albania," BERG Working Paper Series 77, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    12. Franke, Reiner & Westerhoff, Frank, 2012. "Structural stochastic volatility in asset pricing dynamics: Estimation and model contest," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 1193-1211.
    13. Alfarano Simone & Milakovic Mishael, 2012. "Identification of Interaction Effects in Survey Expectations: A Cautionary Note," Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 16(4), pages 1-23, October.
    14. Gervai, Pál & Trautmann, László & Wieszt, Attila, 2010. "The mission and culture of the corporation," BERG Working Paper Series 74, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    15. Bexheti, Abdulmenaf, 2010. "Anti-crisis measures in the republic of Macedonia and their effects: Are they sufficient?," BERG Working Paper Series 70, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    16. Carsten Eckel, 2009. "International Trade and Retailing," CESifo Working Paper Series 2597, CESifo.
    17. Kächelein, Holger & Imami, Drini & Lami, Endrit, 2008. "A new view into political business cycles: Household expenditures in Albania," BERG Working Paper Series 60, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    18. Lojak, Benjamin, 2016. "Sentiment-driven investment, non-linear corporate debt dynamics and co-existing business cycle regimes," BERG Working Paper Series 112, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    19. González-Díaz, Julio & Herold, Florian & Domínguez, Diego, 2016. "Strategic sequential voting," BERG Working Paper Series 113, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    20. Herold, Florian & Kuzmics, Christoph, 2020. "The evolution of taking roles," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 38-63.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    workers' remittances; international migration; deficit of current account; national debt;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F24 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Remittances
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • H63 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt
    • C01 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - General - - - Econometrics

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:zbw:bamber:97. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/bebamde.html .

    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.