Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Remittances and informal work

Ivlevs, Artjoms

Remittances and informal work Thumbnail


Authors



Abstract

© 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of remittances on informal employment in the migrants’ countries of origin, looking both at the remittance-receiving and non-migrant households. Design/methodology/approach: Using data from a large survey conducted in six transition economies of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the determinants of three labour market outcomes – not working, working formally and working informally – are estimated in a multinomial probit model. The endogeneity of remittances is dealt with instrumental variables following the two-stage residual inclusion technique. To assess possible impact of remittances on non-migrant households, conditional correlations between the labour market outcomes of non-migrant households and the region-level share of remittance receivers are obtained. Findings: Both correlational and instrumental variable analyses suggest that that receiving remittances increases the likelihood of working informally. At the regional level, high prevalence of remittances is associated with a higher likelihood of informal work among the non-migrant households. Migration and remittances may thus be contributing to informal employment in migration-sending countries. Research limitations/implications: The empirical analysis is based on cross-sectional data, which do not allow isolating the effects of unobserved respondent heterogeneity. To deal with this issue, future research could use panel data. Originality/value: The study explicitly considers the effects of remittances on formal and informal employment of remittances receivers as well as people who do not receive remittances. It advances the understanding of what drives informality in developing and transition economies.

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 26, 2016
Publication Date Jan 1, 2016
Deposit Date Oct 3, 2016
Publicly Available Date Sep 20, 2018
Journal International Journal of Manpower
Print ISSN 0143-7720
Publisher Emerald
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 37
Issue 7
Pages 1172-1190
DOI https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-08-2015-0117
Keywords migrant workers, remittances, transition economies, informal work, two stage residual inclusion
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/920082
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJM-08-2015-0117
Additional Information Additional Information : The final version of the article is available on the publisher's website at http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJM-08-2015-0117
Contract Date Oct 4, 2016

Files







You might also like



Downloadable Citations