Publication: Migration and Remittances: Causes and Linkages
Abstract
The authors empirically examine the determinants of remittance flows at the cross-country level. They consider, among other things, the significance of the level of migration, the education level of migrants, and financial sector development in determining remittances. Given the potential endogeneity problems, the migration and financial development variables are instrumented in the estimation. They find that the migration level is the main driver of remittance flows, even after controlling for the endogeneity bias through instrumental variable estimation. The authors also find that the education level of migrants relative to the population in home countries, the size of the economy, and the level of economic development of recipient countries adversely affect remittance flows. While they find the effect of financial sector development to be positive, its significance is not strongly supported in their analysis.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Niimi, Yoko; Özden, Çağlar. 2006. Migration and Remittances: Causes and Linkages. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 4087. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8839 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Publication Climate and Social Sustainability in Fragility, Conflict, and Violence Contexts(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2026-01-07)Climate change is widely recognized as a driver of violent conflict, but its broader social effects remain less understood. Ignoring these dimensions risks a vicious cycle where climate policies might undermine socially just adaptation. Evidence is still limited on how climate shocks influence political participation, trust, or migration. This paper helps fill that gap by examining links between climate change, conflict, and social sustainability, with a focus on inclusion, resilience, cohesion, and legitimacy. Using secondary data from 2019–24, the study applies simple correlation-based methods to test three hypotheses on the nature, severity, and composition of these associations. The analysis combines multiple climate impact measures, new conflict classifications, recent social sustainability frameworks, and controls for population and geography. The results reveal strong correlations—not causation—between climate events and contexts of fragility, conflict, and violence. Climate impacts are most pronounced in both national and subnational conflict settings. The study also finds robust links between fragility, conflict, and violence and low levels of social sustainability, reflecting its role as both a driver and consequence of conflict. Some dimensions—such as violent events and insecurity—appear weaker in areas most affected by climate shocks. Two of the hypotheses are supported, and one remains inconclusive.Publication The Macroeconomic Implications of Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Options(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-05-29)Estimating the macroeconomic implications of climate change impacts and adaptation options is a topic of intense research. This paper presents a framework in the World Bank's macrostructural model to assess climate-related damages. This approach has been used in many Country Climate and Development Reports, a World Bank diagnostic that identifies priorities to ensure continued development in spite of climate change and climate policy objectives. The methodology captures a set of impact channels through which climate change affects the economy by (1) connecting a set of biophysical models to the macroeconomic model and (2) exploring a set of development and climate scenarios. The paper summarizes the results for five countries, highlighting the sources and magnitudes of their vulnerability --- with estimated gross domestic product losses in 2050 exceeding 10 percent of gross domestic product in some countries and scenarios, although only a small set of impact channels is included. The paper also presents estimates of the macroeconomic gains from sector-level adaptation interventions, considering their upfront costs and avoided climate impacts and finding significant net gross domestic product gains from adaptation opportunities identified in the Country Climate and Development Reports. Finally, the paper discusses the limits of current modeling approaches, and their complementarity with empirical approaches based on historical data series. The integrated modeling approach proposed in this paper can inform policymakers as they make proactive decisions on climate change adaptation and resilience.Publication Institutional Capacity for Policy Implementation: An Analytical Framework(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2026-01-07)State capacity is an important prerequisite for policy implementation, yet at the country level it is difficult to measure, assess, and reform. This paper proposes a focus on institutional capacity: the ability of public institutions to implement the specific policy mandates for which they are responsible. Based on a review of existing literature, the paper defines the different dimensions that compose institutional capacity and groups them into two cross-cutting categories: organizational dimensions (personnel, financial resources, information systems, and management practices) and governance dimensions (transparency, independence, and accountability). The paper proposes measures for organizational and governance dimensions using existing data, shows intra-institutional variation of these measures within countries, and discusses how new data could be collected for better measurement of these concepts. Finally, the paper illustrates how the framework can be used to diagnose the sources of common problems related to weak policy implementation.Publication South Africa’s Fragmented Cities: The Unequal Burden of Labor Market Frictions(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2026-01-08)Using high-resolution administrative, census, and satellite data, this paper shows that South African cities are characterized by spatial mismatches between where people live and where jobs are located, relative to 20 global peers. Areas within 5 kilometers of commercial centers have 9,300 fewer residents per square kilometer than expected, which is 60 percent below the global median. Poor, dense neighborhoods are most affected. In Johannesburg, a 10-percentile increase in distance from the nearest business hub corresponds to a 3.7-percentile drop in asset wealth (a proxy of household wellbeing) and 4.9-percentile drop in employment. In Cape Town, the declines are 4.0 and 3.7 percentiles, respectively. Employment is 87 percent lower in the poorest decile than the richest in Johannesburg and 61 percent lower in Cape Town. These findings suggest that South Africa’s spatial organization of people and economic activity constrains agglomeration and reinforces inequality. This methodology provides a scalable and standardized data-driven framework to analyze spatial accessibility and agglomeration frictions in complex, data-constrained urban systems.Publication Investment in Emerging and Developing Economies(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2026-01-07)The world faces a pressing challenge to meet key development objectives amid slowing growth and rising macroeconomic and geopolitical risks. With the number of job seekers rising rapidly, infrastructure shortfalls continuing to be large, and climate costs mounting, the case for a significant investment push has never been stronger. Yet the capacity to respond in many emerging markets and developing economies has eroded. Since the global financial crisis, investment growth has slowed to about half its pace in the 2000s, with both public and private investment weakening. Foreign direct investment inflows—a critical source of capital, technology, and managerial know-how—have also fallen sharply and become increasingly concentrated, leaving low-income countries with only a marginal share. The risks of further retrenchment are significant, as trade tensions, policy uncertainty, and elevated debt levels continue to weigh on investment. Reigniting momentum will require ambitious domestic reforms to strengthen institutions, rebuild macro-fiscal stability, and deepen trade and investment integration—the foundations of a supportive business climate. At the same time, international cooperation is indispensable. A renewed commitment to a predictable system of cross-border trade and investment flows, combined with scaled-up financial support and sustained technical assistance, is essential to help emerging markets and developing economies—especially low-income countries and economies in fragile and conflict situations—bridge financing gaps and implement the domestic reforms needed to restore investment as an engine of growth, jobs, and development.
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Tajikistan Policy Note : Enhancing the Development Impact of Remittances(Washington, DC, 2006-06)Remittances have played an important role as one of the drivers of Tajikistan's robust economic growth during the past several years. The volume of official remittances has significantly increased since 2001 and now represent close to 12 percent of GDP (2004). Remittances have become the most important source of external financing for the balance of payments, have increased incomes, and as a result helped reduce poverty. Recognizing their importance, the Tajikistan authorities have sought to sustain remittance flows. However, anecdotal evidence indicates that migrants are not sufficiently integrated into the Tajikistan financial system, much less that of the destination countries (e.g. Russia). This Policy Note has two main objectives: (1) to expand knowledge of the size of remittances, their sending mechanisms (especially through formal channels), and their use; and (2) to propose policy recommendations to enhance the development impact of remittances. The report is organized into six sections, including an Introduction. The sections provide background on migration and remittances related to Tajikistan; discuss the estimation of remittance size and data issues; examine the transfer channels of remittances (their cost, access, and speed), their use, and the impact of remittances by highlighting impediments to the efficiency of remittance transfer services through formal channels, examining the use of remittances by recipient households in Tajikistan, and identifying impacts of remittances on the economy; and drawing some of the key lessons learned from the international experience that could be considered in the Tajik context. The final section recommends policies to enhance the development impact of remittances taking into account the Tajik context and identifies topics for further research.Publication The Canada-Caribbean Remittance Corridor : Fostering Formal Remittances to Haiti and Jamaica through Effective Regulation(World Bank, 2009-04-01)The World Bank has been at the global forefront in research on remittances. Studying over twelve bilateral remittance corridors thus far, the financial market integrity unit has focused its research on remittance market integrity issues and the specific incentives influencing the choices of channels to send money home. Initially conducted at the request of Department of Finance, Canada, this corridor, Canada-Caribbean, has clearly distinguished itself from other bilateral remittance corridors studied in the past. At the originating end of this corridor, these distinguishing features include a country that, throughout its history, has made immigration one of its primary social and economic building blocks. This corridor focuses on Jamaica and Haiti, two of the Caribbean's primary labor exporters and also the countries with the two largest Caribbean communities in Canada. Given the importance of remittances in the region, there is a need for effective, yet proportionate regulation. Risk must be effectively mitigated along potentially vulnerable routes, while innovation, competition and transparency in the remittance markets must be encouraged. Regulatory frameworks that reflect local conditions and are proportionate to the risks involved will facilitate the provision of services of the highest quality to migrants and their families. It is hoped that research provided from this study will generate policy dialogues among all relevant stakeholders, and assist national authorities in their efforts to effectively regulate and supervise the remittance markets. National authorities should continue to encourage the use of formal transfers and develop more reliable and competitive remittance channels. These channels must efficiently meet the varied needs of Caribbean migrant workers and their families in the safest and most secure environment possible.Publication The UK-Nigeria Remittance Corridor : Challenges of Embracing Formal Transfer Systems in a Dual Financial Environment(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2007)The UK-Nigeria remittance corridor has an equal dominance of formal and informal remittance intermediaries. Although several formal financial institutions for transferring money exist in the UK, many people choose to send money informally. More collaboration between the UK and Nigeria is necessary to develop the remittance market, to encourage the use of formal channels, and to enhance the development potential. Among its benefits, the remittance country partnership (RCP) between UK and Nigeria aims to reduce the cost of remittance transfers. The Nigerian government is engaging its diaspora to help spur economic growth. This report recommends that each government focus on improving data collection at its end of the corridor and do more research to provide its policymakers and its private sector with accurate information.Publication Remittances and Vulnerability in Developing Countries(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-03)This paper examines how international remittances are affected by structural characteristics, macroeconomic conditions, and adverse shocks in both source and recipient economies. The paper exploits a novel, rich panel data set, covering bilateral remittances from 103 Italian provinces to 87 developing countries over the period 2005-2011. Remittances are negatively correlated with the business cycle in recipient countries and increase especially strongly in response to adverse exogenous shocks, such as natural disasters or large terms-of-trade declines. Financial development in the source economy, which eases access to financial services for migrants and reduces transaction costs, is positively associated with remittances. Conversely, recipient-country financial development is negatively associated with remittances, suggesting that remittances help alleviate credit constraints.Publication Do Workers’ Remittances Promote Financial Development?(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-07)Workers' remittances to developing countries have become the second largest type of flows after foreign direct investment. The authors use data on workers' remittance flows to 99 developing countries from 1975-2003 to study the impact of remittances on financial sector development. In particular, they examine whether remittances contribute to increasing the aggregate level of deposits and credit intermediated by the local banking sector. This is an important question considering the extensive literature that has documented the growth-enhancing and poverty-reducing effects of financial development. The findings provide strong support for the notion that remittances promote financial development in developing countries.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Error: Could not load results for 'https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/item/relateditemlistconfigs/5573b0a3-fd48-50fa-bce6-88a8b1c82b0e_downloads/itemlist'.