This paper identifies a remittances channel that transmits exogenous shocks, such as business cycles in remittance-sending countries, to the public finances of remittance-receiving countries. Using panel data for remittance-receiving countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia,...

Given the large size of aggregate remittance flows (billions of dollars annually), they should be expected to have significant macroeconomic effects on the economies that receive them. This paper directly addresses the two main issues of interest to policymakers with regard to remittances--how...

Over the past decades, workers' remittances have grown to become one of the largest sources of financial flows to developing countries, often dwarfing other widely-studied sources such as private capital and official aid flows. While it is undeniable that remittances have poverty-alleviating and...

This paper investigates the impact of workers’ remittances on equilibrium real exchange rates (ERER) in recipient economies. Using a small open economy model, it shows that standard "Dutch Disease" results of appreciation are substantially weakened or even overturned depending on: degree...

This paper explores the role of remittances and foreign aid inflows during food price shocks. The results yield four findings. First, low income countries and the Sub-Saharan African region are the most vulnerable to food price shocks. Second, remittance and aid inflows dampen the effect of...

This paper investigates whether remittance inflows reduce the elasticity of government size with respect to trade openness. Put differently, the paper tests the hypothesis that there is a partial substitution between public insurance through government spending and a private insurance through...

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