The impact of digitalisation on remittances. Evidence from El Salvador

This paper carries out a microeconomic analysis of the determinants of remittances from a receiving perspective in El Salvador. Specifically, using data from the ‘Encuesta de Hogares de Propósitos Múltiples of 2016’ (2016 Multi-purpose Household Survey -EHPM16), the characteristics of households that affect the reception of remittances in El Salvador in 2016 were analysed, focusing on the level of digitalisation in households. Determinants of remittances are not everlasting and are affected by social and economic changes. In this sense, the effect on remittances caused by an increase in the widespread use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is not an exception. Based on a two steps selection model, the results point out that the household's level of digitalisation significantly increases the probability of receiving remittances, not their amount.