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Impacts of International Migration and Remittances on Source Country Household Incomes in Small Island States; Fiji and Tonga

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  • Richard P.C. Brown

    (Agricultural and Development Economics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization)

  • Gareth Leeves

    (Agricultural and Development Economics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization)

Abstract

We use original 2005 survey data from Fiji and Tonga on remittances and household income to estimate the combined impact of migration and remittances on the composition of household income. A two-stage methodology is followed. A variable for the predicted number of migrants in each household is generated to control for selectivity in migration. This variable is then used in a 3SLS remittances and income equation system. In neither country do we observe significant impacts on agricultural cash income, but, in relation to other income sources, including subsistence agriculture, wages and non-agricultural business activities, some significant and different effects are found, both positive and negative. These findings suggest that the duration and intensity of remittance-driven migration, and the structure of economic activity within a community are important in understanding the influences of migration and remittances on household resource allocation and production decisions and on the community’s economic transformation.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard P.C. Brown & Gareth Leeves, 2007. "Impacts of International Migration and Remittances on Source Country Household Incomes in Small Island States; Fiji and Tonga," Working Papers 07-13, Agricultural and Development Economics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO - ESA).
    • Handle: RePEc:fao:wpaper:0713
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Evans Jadotte, 2009. "International Migration, Remittances and Labour Supply: The Case of the Republic of Haiti," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2009-28, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Ronald Ravinesh Kumar & Ronald Vijay Naidu & Radika Kumar, 2011. "Exploring the Nexus between Trade, Visitor Arrivals, Remittances and Income in the Pacific: a Study of Vanuatu," Acta Universitatis Danubius. OEconomica, Danubius University of Galati, issue 4(4), pages 199-218, August.
    3. John Gibson & David McKenzie & Steven Stillman, 2011. "The Impacts of International Migration on Remaining Household Members: Omnibus Results from a Migration Lottery Program," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(4), pages 1297-1318, November.
    4. Gharad Bryan & Shyamal Chowdhury & Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, 2014. "Underinvestment in a Profitable Technology: The Case of Seasonal Migration in Bangladesh," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82(5), pages 1671-1748, September.
    5. David McKenzie, 2012. "Learning about migration through experiments," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1207, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    6. Kaninda Tshikala, Sam & Fonsah, Esendugue Greg, 2014. "Assessing the impact of migration and remittances on technology adoption in rural Senegal," 2014 Annual Meeting, February 1-4, 2014, Dallas, Texas 162461, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    7. Md. Ashraful Islam & Md. Rokonuzzaman, 2023. "Impact of remittance inflows on the migration outflows of African countries: Statistical panel analysis," International Journal of Science and Business, IJSAB International, vol. 22(1), pages 14-22.
    8. Mazhar Mughal & Farid Makhlouf, 2013. "Labour effects of foreign and domestic remittances -- evidence from Pakistan," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(6), pages 798-821, November.
    9. Mobarak, Ahmed Mushfiq & Sharif, Iffath & Shrestha, Maheshwor, 2021. "Returns to International Migration: Evidence from a Bangladesh-Malaysia Visa Lottery," IZA Discussion Papers 14232, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Brandon D. Lundy & Mark Patterson & Alex O'Neill, 2017. "Drivers and deterrents of entrepreneurial enterprise in the risk-prone Global South," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(1), pages 65-81, January.
    11. David McKenzie & John Gibson & Steven Stillman, 2007. "Moving to opportunity, leaving behind what? Evaluating the initial effects of a migration policy on incomes and poverty in source areas," New Zealand Economic Papers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(2), pages 197-223.
    12. Marco Stampini & Benjamin Davis, 2009. "Does nonagricultural labor relax farmers’ credit constraints? Evidence from longitudinal data for Vietnam," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(2), pages 177-188, March.
    13. Yoshino, Naoyuki & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Otsuka, Miyu, 2017. "International Remittances and Poverty Reduction: Evidence from Asian Developing Countries," ADBI Working Papers 759, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    14. Gharad Bryan & Shyamal Chowdhury & A. Mushfiq Mobarak, 2011. "Seasonal Migration and Risk Aversion," Working Papers id:4650, eSocialSciences.
    15. Grabrucker, Katharina, 2021. "Effects of internal rural-urban migration on rural non-farm enterprises: Evidence from Thailand and Vietnam," Passauer Diskussionspapiere, Volkswirtschaftliche Reihe V-85-21, University of Passau, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    16. Ilhom Abdulloev, 2018. "Job dissatisfaction and migration: evidence from Tajikistan," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-27, December.
    17. Evans Jadotte & Xavier Ramos, 2016. "The Effect of Remittances on Labour Supply in the Republic of Haiti," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(12), pages 1810-1825, December.
    18. Kashif Imran & Evelyn S. Devadason & Cheong Kee Cheok, 2019. "Developmental Impacts of Remittances on Migrant-Sending Households: Micro-Level Evidence from Punjab, Pakistan," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 14(3), pages 338-366, December.
    19. Pan, Zehan & Xu, Wei & Wang, Guixin & Li, Sen & Yang, Chuankai, 2020. "Will remittances suppress or increase household income in the migrant-sending areas? Modeling the effects of remittances in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Migration; remittances; agricultural and non-agricultural income sources; Fiji; Tonga.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products

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