Motives behind remittances

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate whether the motives behind sending remittances differ for the migrants from single- and multi-migrant families in India. Design/methodology/approach - The paper uses the second round of India Human Development Survey conducted in the year 2012 to analyse migrant’s motives using the two-part model and the sample selection model (SSM). Here, the probit model is used to model whether the migrant sends the remittances and then the amount of remittances is modelled using the ordinary least squares method. The SSM assumes that these two decisions are interdependent. This migrant-level study is the first to segregate single- and multiple-migrant settings and compare them for the existence of altruism or inheritance motives. Findings - The findings indicate altruism as the main motive behind remittances for the single migrants in India. On the other hand, presence of inheritance motive is evident along with altruism in the multi-migrant setting. Research limitations/implications - The analysis is restricted due to limited availability of information on migrant as the data are collected from the migrant’s family at origin. Originality/value - This is the first study to use a unique nationally representative survey which enables it to point out differences in the motives behind remittances for the single-migrant and multi-migrant settings in India.