Business Cycles and Workers' Remittances: How Do Migrant Workers Respond to Cyclical Movements of GDP At Home?
February 1, 2006
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Summary
Workers' remittances are often argued to have a tendency to move countercyclically with the GDP in recipient countries since migrant workers are expected to remit more during down cycles of economic activity back home. Yet, how much to remit is a complex decision involving other factors, and different variables driving remittance behavior are differently affected by the state of economic activity over the business cycle. This paper investigates the behavior of workers' remittances flows into 12 developing countries over their respective business cycles during 1976-2003 and finds that countercyclicality of receipts is not commonly observed across these countries.
Subject: Balance of payments, Business cycles, Economic growth, Financial sector policy and analysis, Income, Labor, Migrant labor, National accounts, Procyclicality, Remittances
Keywords: Africa, Bangladesh's remittances receipt, business cycles, consumption vs. investment motive, Income, Middle East, Migrant labor, Procyclicality, remittance, remittance behavior, remittance flow, remittance receipt, Remittances, remittances cycle, remittances series, role remittances play, spending, workers' remittance, workers’ remittances, WP
Pages:
21
Volume:
2006
DOI:
Issue:
052
Series:
Working Paper No. 2006/052
Stock No:
WPIEA2006052
ISBN:
9781451863123
ISSN:
1018-5941
