Remittances : An Automatic Output Stabilizer? / Dalia Hakura, Ralph Chami, Peter Montiel.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

Hakura, Dalia.

Contributor:

Chami, Ralph.

Montiel, Peter.

Series:

IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2009/091

IMF Working Papers

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic assistance.

Economic development.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (33 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Remittance flows appear to be falling worldwide for the first time in decades as a result of the ongoing financial turmoil. It is suspected that the drop in remittance income into developing and emerging markets will have a destabilizing effect on these economies. The paper estimates the impact of remittances on output stability for countries that are dependent on these income flows. Using a sample of 70 countries, including 16 advanced economies and 54 developing countries, we find robust evidence that remittances have a negative effect on output growth volatility of recipient countries. This result supports the notion that remittance flows are a stabilizing influence on output. Thus, the fall in remittances precipitated by the ongoing global financial crisis could potentially increase output variability in recipient countries. This would present a hard challenge for governments in those countries already suffering from the crisis: they must resort to an already stressed and limited set of policy instruments, such as fiscal policy, to counter the resulting adverse economic and social impacts of lower remittances.

Contents:

Contents; I. Introduction; II. Determinants of Growth Volatility; A. Exogenous Shocks; B. Persistent Country Characteristics; C. The Institutional Environment; D. Remittance Flows; III. Ordinary Least Squares Estimation; IV. Instrumental Variables Estimation; V. Generalized Method of Moments Dynamic Panel Estimation; VI. Testing for Nonlinear Effects; VII. An Application: Remittances and Output Stability in the Middle East and North Africa; VIII. Summary and Conclusions; Tables; 1. Output Volatility and Workers Remittances

2. Descriptive Statistics of Dependent and Explanatory Variables 1970 - 20043. Ordinary Least Squares and Instrumental Variables Regression Results; 4. Panel Data Description, 1980

2004; 5. Panel Regression Results; 6. Nonlinear Ordinary Least Squares and Instrumental Variables Regression Results; 7. Nonlinear GMM System Estimation; 8. Estimated Impact of Remittances on Volatility; A. Data Definitions and Sources; Appendixes; Data Appendix; B. Country Coverage; Country Coverage; References

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9786612843112

9781462376964

1462376967

9781452795478

1452795479

9781282843110

1282843117

9781451872385

1451872380

OCLC:

503190327