REMITTANCES AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: A META-ANALYSIS

REMITTANCES AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: A META-ANALYSIS

Autor: Alina Cazachevici
prof. PhDr. Tomáš Havránek Ph.D.
prof. Roman Horváth Ph.D.
Typ: IES Working Papers
Rok: 2019
Číslo: 35
ISSN / ISBN:  
Publikováno v: IES Working Papers 35/2019
Místo vydání: Prague
Klíčová slova: Remittances, economic growth, meta-analysis, publication bias, Bayesian model averaging
JEL kódy: D22, E58, G21, F63
Citace: Cazachevici A., Havranek T. and Horvath R. (2019): "Remittances and Economic Growth: A Meta-Analysis" IES Working Papers 35/2019. IES FSV. Charles University.
Abstrakt: Expatriate workers’ remittances represent an important source of financing for low- and middle-income countries. No consensus, however, has yet emerged regarding the effect of remittances on economic growth. In a quantitative survey of 538 estimates reported in 95 studies, we find that approximately 40% of the studies report a positive effect, 40% report no effect, and 20% report a negative effect. Our results indicate publication bias in favor of positive effects. Correcting for the bias using recently developed techniques, we find that the mean effect of remittances on growth is still positive but economically small. Nevertheless, our results uncover noticeable regional differences: remittances are growth-enhancing in Asia but not in Africa. Studies that do not control for alternative sources of external finance, such as foreign aid and foreign direct investment, mismeasure the effect of remittances. Finally, time-series studies and studies ignoring endogeneity issues report systematically larger effects of remittances on growth.
Ke stažení: wp_2019_35_cazachevici_havranek_horvath.pdf