IMF Working Papers

Business Cycles and Workers' Remittances: How Do Migrant Workers Respond to Cyclical Movements of GDP At Home?

By Serdar Sayan

February 1, 2006

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Serdar Sayan. Business Cycles and Workers' Remittances: How Do Migrant Workers Respond to Cyclical Movements of GDP At Home?, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2006) accessed November 8, 2024
Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

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

Publication Details

  • Pages:

    21

  • Volume:

    ---

  • DOI:

    ---

  • Issue:

    ---

  • Series:

    Working Paper No. 2006/052

  • Stock No:

    WPIEA2006052

  • ISBN:

    9781451863123

  • ISSN:

    1018-5941

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