Do transfer costs matter for foreign remittances?

Artikel

Using bilateral data on remittance flows to Pakistan for 23 major host countries, this is the first study that examines the effect of transaction costs on foreign remittances. The authors find that the effect of transaction costs on remittance flows is negative and significant; suggesting that a high cost will either refrain migrants from sending money back home or make them remit through informal channels. They also find that remittances are facilitated by the existence of migrant networks and improvements in home and host country financial services. Distance, which has been used in previous studies as an indicator of the cost of remitting, is found to be a poor proxy.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal: Economics: The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal ; ISSN: 1864-6042 ; Volume: 10 ; Year: 2016 ; Issue: 2016-4 ; Pages: 1-36 ; Kiel: Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; International Migration ; International Finance: General ; Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
• Subject: remittances ; geographical distance ; transaction cost ; financial services ; Pakistan

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Ahmed, Junaid ; Martínez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
• (where): Kiel
• (when): 2016

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2016-4
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/126572
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET