Remittances and livelihood strategies : a case study in Eastern Nepal

The research presented in this book quantitatively analyses the determinants of remittances receipt in Eastern Nepal. Based on the New Economics of Labour Migration (NELM), the study examines the relationship of remittances with investments and household’s expenditure pattern. The results show that the household having a higher number of males aged 15-29 years and 30-60 years, having a female-head, being from Hill Janajati ethnicity, having an extended family and having a house with a semi-permanent structure increases the likelihood of receiving remittances. The two main findings that emerge with the relationship between remittances and expenditure patterns are: remittances have significant positive impacts on food and health expenditures and no effects on educational expenditures. A considerable amount of remittances is used by the migrants’ households for purchasing land and constructing houses. The results also suggest that remittances have no effects in business ownership.