Measuring remittances

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Development Economics
Year: 2023
Volume: 161
Issue: C

Authors (5)

De Arcangelis, Giuseppe (not in RePEc) Fertig, Alexander (University of Michigan) Liang, Yuna (not in RePEc) Srouji, Peter (not in RePEc) Yang, Dean (University of Michigan)

Score contribution per author:

0.804 = (α=2.01 / 5 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Remittances received by households from international migrants are of interest in an increasing number of microeconomic analyses. Making use of novel data, we measure misreporting of remittances sent by migrants in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to remittance recipients in the Philippines. We obtained administrative transaction data from a sample of Filipino migrants who were clients of a popular money transfer operator (MTO). We then surveyed these migrants as well as their primary remittance recipients about the same remittance flows. Migrant-reported remittances are only 6% lower than MTO administrative records, and we cannot reject their equality. A custom smartphone app designed to facilitate migrant remittance reporting does not help raise reporting accuracy. Recipient-reported remittances are 23% lower than migrant reports on average. Recipients under-report even more when they receive remittances less frequently and when remittances make up a lower share of household income.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:deveco:v:161:y:2023:i:c:s0304387822001468
Journal Field
Development
Author Count
5
Added to Database
2026-01-25