Estimating the Net Effects of Migration and Remittances on Poverty and Inequality: Comparison of Fiji and Tonga

We use original 2005 household survey data from Fiji and Tonga to estimate the impact of migration and remittances on income distribution and measures of poverty, after controlling for selectivity in migration and endogeneity in the relationship between remittances and income. Measures of inequality and poverty based on actual, with-migration income and remittances are then compared with those based on a no-migration scenario. Counterfactual household incomes are estimated, taking account of what the migrant members would have earned had they not migrated. The results are compared with alternative income estimates in which remittances are treated simplistically as exogenous transfers. The positive effects of migration and remittances on poverty alleviation and income distribution are found to be stronger when the more rigorous, counterfactual income estimates are used.migration, remittances, income distribution, poverty, Fiji, Tonga

Impacts of International Migration and Remittances

We use original 2005 survey data from Fiji and Tonga on remittances and household income to estimate the combined impact of migration and remittances on the composition of household income. A two-stage methodology is followed. A variable for the predicted number of migrants in each household is generated to control for selectivity in migration. This variable is then used in a 3SLS remittances and income equation system. In neither country do we observe significant impacts on agricultural cash income, but, in relation to other income sources, including subsistence agriculture, wages and non-agricultural business activities, some significant and different effects are found, both positive and negative. These findings suggest that the duration and intensity of remittance-driven migration, and the structure of economic activity within a community are important in understanding the influences of migration and remittances on household resource allocation and production decisions and on the community�s economic transformation.

A Mixed-Motives Model of Private Transfers with Subjectively-Assessed Recipient Need: Evidence from a Poor, Transfer-Dependent Economy

We extend the mixed-motives model of transfer derivatives developed by Cox et al (2004) introducing subjectively-assessed recipient need in place of an absolute income threshold at which the donor’s dominant motive switches from altruism to exchange. This refinement provides a theoretically justifiable threshold amenable to empirical measurement. We test the extended model with customized survey data from Tonga and find evidence consistent with Cox et al in support of altruism for households below the threshold, but, we also find a positive, exchange-motivated relationship for those above the threshold. We conclude that either crowding-out or crowding-in of private transfers can occur when the recipient’s welfare improves, depending on the household’s pre-transfer welfare level. This also has implications for the distributional impact of private transfers and could explain why poverty reduction can be accompanied by increased income inequality.

Assessing the poverty impacts of remittances with alternative counterfactual income estimates

We estimate the impacts of remittances on poverty with survey data from Tonga, a poor Pacific island country highly dependent on international migrants’ remittances. The sensitivity of poverty impacts to estimation method is tested using two methods to estimate migrants’ counterfactual incomes; bootstrap prediction with self-selection testing and propensity score matching. We find consistency between the two methods, both showing a substantial reduction in the incidence and depth of poverty with migration and remittances. With further robustness checks there is strong evidence that the poorest households benefit from migrants’ remittances, and that increased migration opportunities can contribute to poverty alleviation.

Remittances and Subjective Welfare in a Mixed-Motives Model: Evidence from Fiji

To analyze migrants’ remittance motivations we extend the mixed-motives model of private transfers developed by Cox et al (2004), incorporating subjectively-assessed recipient welfare. We test the model with customized survey data from Fiji, finding evidence supportive of altruism for households below a subjective threshold level, indicating that international migrants’ remittances provide important social protection coverage to households where formal social protection systems are lacking.Unlike previous studies, we also find a positive, exchange-motivated relationship for those above the threshold. The conventional linear model applied to the same sample uncovers neither relationship. We conclude that either crowding-out or crowding-in of remittances can occur when recipients’ welfare improves, depending on the household’s pre-transfer welfare level. The net effects of recipients’ welfare improvements on remittances, and the effects of remittances on poverty alleviation and income distribution, are consequently more complex and ambiguous than previous studies suggest.

Wealthy and Healthy in the South Pacific

Objectives- The main aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship between socio-economic status and health status at the household level in Fiji, a developing country in the South Pacific, based on original household survey data compiled by the authors Method- We exploit the geographic conditions of Viti Levu, the relatively small main island of Fiji, to isolate the effects of household wealth on health. For households on this island physical distance is not a significant impediment for access to health care and other publicly-provided services. We use a constructed index of household wealth in place of the more commonly used income measure of socio-economic status. To control for reverse causality and other possible sources of endogeneity we use an Instrumental Variable strategy in the regression analysis. Findings- We find that a household’s socio-economic status, as measured by a constructed wealth index, has a substantial impact on the household’s health status. We estimate that if a household's wealth increased from the minimum to the maximum level, this would decrease its probability of being afflicted by an incapacitating illness by almost 50 per cent. Conclusions- Health outcomes from existing health services can therefore be improved by raising the economic well-being of poor households. Conversely, the provision of additional health services alone may not necessarily improve health outcomes for the poorest.

A comparison of faecal analysis with backtracking to determine the diet composition and species preference of the black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis minor)

The diet of black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis minor) was studied using backtracking and faecal analysis in South Africa. Both methods yielded different results, with a large bias for dominant species. Results of backtracking showed that the rhinos browsed on 80 plant species. Grasses comprised 4.5% of the diet in the faecal analysis, but were not recorded during the backtracking. The backtracking method, along with a measure of forage availability, was used to identify two groups of plant species, those species taken in a higher proportion than available in the field and those taken in a lower proportion. Chemical analyses showed that these two species groups were similar in in vitro digestibility, macro-elements and fibre constituents. Mean bite size and species contribution to the diet were not correlated with any of the forage quality parameters, indicating that rhinos were not maximising nutrient intake or minimising fibre intake of these consumed plant species

Meson Transition Form Factors From A QCD Model Field Theory

We discuss form factors and coupling constants for the $\gamma^* \pi^0 \gamma$, $\rho\pi\pi$ and $\gamma \pi \rho$ interactions generated by a model field theory that produces finite size $\bar{q}q$ meson modes. The approach implements dressing of the vertices and propagators consistent with dynamical chiral symmetry breaking, gauge invariance, quark confinement and perturbative QCD.Comment: 10 pages incl 4 figs in a single gzip-ed, uuencoded Postscript file; Paper presented at {\it The International School of Nuclear Physics: Quarks in Hadrons and Nuclei}, Erice, September 1995; Proceedings to appear in Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. {\bf 36

Supersymmetry of the 2+1 black holes

The supersymmetry properties of the asymptotically anti-de Sitter black holes of Einstein theory in 2+1 dimensions are investigated. It is shown that (i) the zero mass black hole has two exact super- symmetries; (ii) extreme $lM=|J|$ black holes with $M \not= 0$ have only one; and (iii) generic black holes do not have any. It is also argued that the zero mass hole is the ground state of (1,1)-adS supergravity with periodic (``Ramond") boundary conditions on the spinor fields.Comment: 9 pages LaTeX file, ULB-PMIF-93/0