The Determinants of Remittances: Evidence from Moldova

This article explores the factors that account for the receipt of remittances by households in Moldova that have members who have migrated abroad, mostly temporarily. We approach our research question from the perspective of the recipient household and use it to interpret the econometric findings on the determinants of remittances. Our results show that a combination of household and migrant characteristics and some community-level variables are the key elements in explaining remittance behaviour. Drawing on these estimates, we argue that the results point towards altruism and investment as the two possible motives behind remittance flows to Moldova, which significantly affect the country's development prospects.     

Do Migrants Insure Those who Stay Behind? Evidence from the Kayes Area (Western Mali)

This article uses recent household survey data from the Kayes area (western Mali) to analyse the determinants of remittances from both internal and international migration. The underlying assumption is that remittances are part of an insurance contract between the migrant and his family. Although this idea is not new, few tests have appeared in the recent literature. After a discussion of various measures of crop income shocks, we employ Powell's censored least absolute deviation (CLAD) estimators in addition to more standard parametric estimators to assess the influence of shocks on remittance behaviour. In contrast to Heckman's two-step or the Tobit estimator, Powell's estimator is consistent in the presence of heteroscedasticity and is robust to violations of the normality assumption for the residuals. Regression results bring some support for the view that insurance is an important motivation for remittances. This welfare function should be taken into account by policy-makers in the design of migration policies.     

Migration,remittances and smallholder decision-making: Implications for land use and livelihood change in Central America

We model Central American migrant-sending household agricultural practices given labor losses and the concomitant infusion of remittances. Under the new economics of labor migration (NELM) framework, it is hypothesized that smallholder farm households invest remittance income in their land either to increase crop production or to transition to cattle ranching. We test this hypothesis by developing a combination of multivariate logistic, Poisson and beta regression techniques using Latin American Migration Project data to determine how agricultural land use change compared among migrant and non-migrant households in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Results indicate that a rise in months spent abroad and remittances returned do not translate into a higher percentage of farm sales, intensification or transition to cattle ranching – counter to NELM. However, farmers are investing remittances to increase row crop and pasture land holdings. These findings suggest remittance investments in quantitative increase rather than qualitative change in land use practices. Given the expansive land demands supporting low intensity smallholder agriculture and cattle, and the land degradation cattle precipitate particularly, the trend does not augur well for the sustainability of rural landscapes increasingly transformed by international remittances. Appropriate policies to champion coupled human-land system sustainability in Central America might usefully consider viable land use alternatives to remittance investments dedicated to crop and pasture expansion.     

Does female human capital formation matter for the income effect of remittances? Evidence from developing countries

The existing literature has focussed extensively on the development outcomes resulting from international migrant remittances. Yet, the human capital channel promoting remittance effectiveness has received little attention. Given the multilateral policy drive to promote female literacy in recent decades, it is relevant to examine whether female human capital formation improves the effectiveness of remittances in terms of its impact on per capita income. Using a panel of 103 developing economies over the period 1970–2012, this paper attempts to answer this question empirically. The paper finds that female human capital affects the remittance-growth relationship differently according to whether it is the primary, secondary or tertiary level of human capital. Our estimates of the marginal impacts of remittances show that while higher levels of skilled human capital (secondary and tertiary enrolments) enhance the marginal impact of remittances on per capita income, low-skilled human capital (primary enrolments) fails to do so. Our conclusion stresses the need to encourage female human capital beyond the promotion of literacy rates in developing countries.     

Who Remits More? Who Remits Less? Evidence from Kosovar Migrants in Germany and Their Households of Origin

The prevalence of subsistence-oriented farming and the scarcity of non-farm employment make migration a common livelihood strategy in rural Kosovo. Consequently, many households rely heavily on remittances. Although migrants themselves often struggle to finance their everyday lives in their host countries, remittances continue to flow. As almost all migrants remit, it is required that the level of remittances be monitored and the factors determining the absolute amount of remittances to the home country be known. There are three overarching determinants: the connection between the migrant and the household of origin, the need for financial support of the household of origin and the financial means of the migrant. This contribution draws on an original, detailed and very recent database collected using an innovative survey design. It provides significant insights into the country- and culture-specific driving forces behind remittances from Germany to Kosovo.     

Labour Migration as a Social Security Mechanism for Smallholder Households in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Cameroon

Labour migration is traditionally considered to be a way of protecting household members at the migrant's place of origin from economic pitfalls by receipt of remittances. More recently, young urban migrants from rural regions have been observed to neglect their traditional obligations to support their elderly parents, especially if they do not intend to return to their native village, do not expect any sizeable inheritance and have no reciprocal insurance commitment with their parents. Under such circumstances, rural people are exposed to the risk of staying without support in times of economic crises or during their old age. This paper analyses the potential of migration with remittance strategies in stabilizing the income of rural households. The analytical results are based on a microeconomic survey from Cameroon in 1991/92. A Probit model is applied to analyse access to remittances and a Tobit model to look into their extent. A major result of this analysis is that migration with remittance strategies fails as a social security mechanism when the potential remitter does not expect any sizeable inheritance.     

Does migration raise agricultural investment? An empirical analysis for rural Mexico

The effect of remittances on capital accumulation remains a contested topic. This article uses a panel data set from rural Mexico to investigate the impact of remittances on agriculture and livestock investments. After controlling for the endogeneity of migration through an instrumental variable estimation our empirical results show that international migration has a significantly positive effect on the accumulated agricultural assets but not on livestock capital. This suggests that households use the capital obtained from international migration only to overcome liquidity constraints for subsistence production whereas migration itself seems to be the superior investment option compared to other productive activities such as livestock husbandry.     

Horticulture,livelihoods, and urban transition in Africa: evidence from South‐West Cameroon

This article documents change in periurban horticulture using repeat surveys in 1995 and 2004 of about 300 households around Muea, Cameroon. Real household incomes increased by 14%, with a large shift from farm to nonfarm income. Within agriculture, activity shifted from staple crops to horticulture, both for sale and in home consumption. In 1995, there were large remittances from farmers involved in periurban horticulture to their village of origin; in 2004 remittances continued and horticultural farmers were also heavily involved in informal financial associations. Periurban horticulture is disproportionately practiced by women and older workers, and plays an important and growing role in African livelihoods.     

Mobile money,agricultural marketing,and off‐farm income in Uganda

Mobile money (MM) services can contribute to welfare gains in smallholder farm households. Previous research showed that one important pathway for these MM‐related welfare gains is through higher remittances received from relatives and friends. Here, the role of other impact pathways is examined, especially focusing on agricultural marketing and off‐farm economic activities. The analysis builds on panel data from smallholder coffee farmers in Uganda. Regression models show that the adoption of MM technology has contributed to higher household incomes and consumption levels. Off‐farm income gains are identified to be an important pathway, also beyond remittances. Typical off‐farm income sources are small businesses in trade, transport, and handicrafts, which benefit from novel savings and money transfer opportunities through MM. In terms of agricultural marketing, MM users sell a larger proportion of their coffee as shelled beans to buyers in high‐value markets, instead of selling to local traders immediately after harvest. MM services help to reduce cash constraints and facilitate transactions with buyers from outside local regions. In conclusion, MM can contribute to rural development through various important pathways. Analysis of adoption patterns suggests that MM services are socially inclusive.     

Strategic Planning and Financial Performance in the Food Processing Sector

Research on the impact of formal strategic planning on firm performance has yielded mixed results. In this study, approximately 200 executives in five food processing industries were surveyed to examine the relationship between formal strategic planning and financial performance. A multiple indicator measure of strategic planning was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. Results of the strategic planning–performance model indicate that use of strategic planning tools has a positive impact on financial performance as measured by the 3-year average pretax return on assets.     

利率市场化改革如何影响了农村正规金融对非正规金融的替代性?

本文基于"技术内生效应"的视角研究了利率市场化改革对农村正规与非正规金融替代性的影响。本文指出利率市场化改革对农村正规金融利率调整的效应有三种,分别是直接名义收益效应、农户类型异质的借款人结构类型效应和正规金融机构解决信息不对称与监督问题的技术内生效应,这三种效应导致农村正规金融对非正规金融的替代呈倒"U"形关系。本文的实证研究表明利率市场化改革对正规与非正规金融替代性主要不是源于利率价格变动的名义收益效应,而是与信息不对称问题密切相关的借款人结构类型效应与技术内生效应。本文的政策含义在于,农村利率市场化改革要考虑普惠金融与金融精准扶贫的有效性,同时要考虑农村的信息不对称问题并做好激励机制设计。     

微型金融的普惠效应实证研究--基于6省4220户农户调查数据

本文利用全国6个省份60县4220户农户的调查数据,运用Probit模型实证检验微型金融机构的普惠效应,即小额信贷是否为中低收入和贫困农户提供信贷支持以及能否利用自身特殊的贷款机制拓展农村金融的覆盖面。实证结果发现,微型金融机构能够将信贷服务向正规金融机构无法覆盖的中等收入群体延伸,其普惠效应主要源自其依托现金流为核心的信贷技术,能够克服传统金融机构大多依赖抵押品的不足。但是,小额信贷的金融普惠程度有一定的局限,无法覆盖那些收入不稳定的贫困程度较深的农户,该结果在采用多层阈值定义贫困农户后依然稳健。     

Rural banking in Nigeria: Empirical evidence of indicative policy variables from Anambra State

Ten years after the establishment of the Rural Banking Scheme (RBS) in Nigeria, there are clear indications that the problems and issues which led to the scheme are still prevalent. These include a low level of rural savings mobilization, inadequate use of banking services, and lack of credit for rural people. The central assumptions of the scheme were that increasing the physical proximity of banks to rural people enhances rural savings mobilization and, in turn, increases the flow of funds to the rural sector. Consequently, Nigeria established a quasi-commercial bank type of rural banking system, by means of legislation requiring commercial banks to open branches in rural areas. This study questions the validity of the underlying assumptions, and sets out to investigate the appropriate mix of policy variables necessary for establishing an effective rural banking system in Nigeria and other developing countries. Rural residents were surveyed to find out which variables are important in determining rural bank use. Discriminant analysis showed that four variables were significant in discriminating between rural bank users and non-users. These variables were household income, years of formal education, gender of respondent, and the awareness of the existence of the rural bank branch. The proximity of the bank to the respondent's residence was not a significant determining variable. These findings have important implications for rural bank designers and implementors in Nigeria and other developing countries. They suggest that the current emphasis on the physical distance, as a critical factor in rural bank development, should be replaced by a broader and a more comprehensive strategy which would incorporate and utilize an appropriate mix of policy variables to enhance the effectiveness of the rural banks in Nigeria.     

Transnational Organizing in Agrarian Central America: Histories, Challenges, Prospects

Central America was one of the principal regions where transnational peasant organizing emerged and from which it spread in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Yet by the late 1990s the seemingly powerful transnational peasant coalitions were in disarray. Their successors have had only a modest impact since 2001. The article points to two main sources of weakness in Central America's transnational peasant coalitions: first, a variety of intra-organizational problems, including political differences, disputes over resources, over-funding by cooperation agencies, and an emphasis on networking activity, rather than concrete gains, as a measure of success; and second, an external political, economic and demographic environment that has become increasingly unfavourable. Elements of the latter include the long-term declines in maize and coffee prices, only recently reversed in 2006; the declining importance of agriculture and the imposition of a new economic model centred around industrial and financial activities; and the rapidly growing levels of out-migration and of dependence of those remaining in the countryside on family remittances and non-agricultural activities. The article concludes not with definitive arguments, but rather with a series of questions about what might constitute effective strategies for transnational peasant organizing in an extremely problematic context, such as contemporary Central America.     

The Impact of Migration,Remittances and Public Transfers on Technology Adoption: The Case of Cereal Producers in Rural Kenya

Risk and liquidity constraints are major obstacles to the adoption of modern technologies in many rural African countries. Migration and remittances can help rural households overcome these constraints and increase the adoption of modern technologies. We analyse the impact of migration, remittances and government transfers on the adoption of improved seeds in rural Kenya. Using data from the World Bank, two stage least‐squares estimates show that both migration and remittances positively affect the adoption of improved seeds. However, three stage least‐squares estimates reveal that the adoption of new technologies is more related to migration than remittances.     

The financial crisis and its impacts on global agriculture

The financial crisis arose in the industrial countries, but has affected developing countries through higher interest rates, sharp changes in commodity prices, and reductions in investment, trade, migration, and remittances. For most low‐income countries, shocks that affect food prices or wage rates for unskilled workers seem likely to have the biggest impact on poverty, with the declines in key food prices associated with the crisis helping to reduce poverty. Policies to address the crisis must include measures to deal with: financial sector problems; the resulting reductions in aggregate demand; and the particular vulnerabilities of poor people.     

Consequences of out-migration for land use in rural Ecuador

In rural Ecuador and elsewhere in Latin America, the departure of migrants and the receipt of migrant remittances have led to declining rural populations and increasing cash incomes. It is commonly assumed that these processes will lead to agricultural abandonment and the regrowth of native vegetation, thus undermining traditional livelihoods and providing a boon for biodiversity conservation. However, an increasing number of household-level studies have found mixed and complex effects of out-migration and remittances on agriculture. We advance this literature by using household survey data and satellite imagery from three study areas in rural Ecuador to investigate the effects of migration and remittances on agricultural land use. Multivariate methods are used to disaggregate the effects of migration and remittances, to account for other influences on land use and to correct for the potential endogeneity of migration and remittances. Contrary to common assumptions but consistent with previous studies, we find that migrant departure has a positive effect on agricultural activities that is offset by migrant remittances. These results suggest that rural out-migration alone is not likely to lead to a forest transition in the study areas.     

The role of rural producer organizations for agricultural service provision in fragile states

This article assesses the extent of external linkages and the provision of agricultural services by rural producer organizations in a post‐conflict setting. Using new survey data collected by the International Food Policy Research Institute in three provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this study finds that various internal and external factors affect the capacity of organizations to interact with external organizations. External linkages, ability to collect financial support from their members, management capacity, and formal governance structures all contribute to explaining relative performance in agricultural service delivery. We also find that exogenous events affect the relative performance of rural producer organizations. Our results suggest that closeness to conflict reduces the capacity of producer organizations to provide agricultural services.     

数字普惠金融对农村内部收入差距的影响研究——基于生计资源多元化视角的经验分析

目的 在推进农民农村共同富裕道路进程中,识别数字普惠金融缩小农村内部收入差距的作用,并从农户生计资源多元化配置视角探索其作用机制。方法 文章合并使用县域数字普惠金融指数和中国家庭追踪调查数据（CFPS）,构造衡量农户收入不平等程度的相对剥夺指数,采用面板Tobit模型考察数字普惠金融对农村内部收入差距的影响,采用中介效应模型从生计资源多元化配置视角考察其作用机制。结果 （1）数字普惠金融能够有效减缓农户的相对收入剥夺程度,进而缩小农村内部收入差距,数字普惠金融指数每上升1%,农户相对收入剥夺水平下降7.87%,通过一系列稳健性检验后该结果依然可信;（2）生计资源多元化是数字普惠金融缩小农村内部收入差距的重要作用机制,数字普惠金融缩差效应的11.85%可由该作用渠道来解释;（3）数字普惠金融对农村内部收入差距缩减效应也具有明显的异质性,男性户主和45岁以下户主的农户、非农就业占比高和兼业化程度大的农户获得的数字普惠金融缩差“红利”更大。结论 作为新型金融供给方式,政府应大力推进农村数字普惠金融发展,因地制宜实施农村数字金融政策,鼓励农户生计资源多元化配置,多渠道应对风险提高收入水平,进而缩小农村内部收入差距助推共同富裕。     

Migrant Organization and Hometown Impacts in Rural Mexico

The interaction between migration, development and rural democratization is not well understood. Exit is usually understood as an alternative to voice, but the Mexican experience with cross-border social and civic action led by hometown associations suggests that exit can also be followed by voice. This article explores migrant impacts on hometown civic life, focusing on voice and bargaining over community development investments of collective remittances that are matched by government social funds. The most significant democratizing impacts include expatriate pressures on local governments for accountability and greater voice for outlying villages in municipal decision-making.