Volume 31 - Article 41 | Pages 1243–1274  

Measuring remittances through surveys: Methodological and conceptual issues for survey designers and data analysts

By Richard Brown, Jørgen Carling, Sonja Fransen, Melissa Siegel

References

Adams, Richard H. (2011). Evaluating the Economic Impact of International Remittances On Developing Countries Using Household Surveys: A Literature Review. The Journal of Development Studies 47(6): 809-828.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Ahlburg, Dennis A. and Brown, Richard P. C. (1998). Migrants’ intentions to return home and capital transfers: A study of Tongans and Samoans in Australia. The Journal of Development Studies 35(2): 125-151.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Åkesson, Lisa (2011). Remittances and Relationships: Exchange in Cape Verdean Transnational Families. Ethnos 76(3): 326-347.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Akuei, S.R. (2005). Remittances as unforeseen burdens: The livelihoods and social obligations of Sudanese refugees. Geneva: Global Commission on International Migration.

Download reference:

Amery, Hussein A. and Anderson, William P. (1995). International migration and remittances to a Lebanese village. Canadian Geographer 39(1): 46-58.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina, Georges, Annie, and Pozo, Susan (2010). Migration, Remittances, and Children’s Schooling in Haiti. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 630(1): 224-244.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina and Pozo, Susan (2013). Remittances and Portfolio Values: An Inquiry using Immigrants from Africa, Europe, and the Americas. World Development 41: 83-95.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Bradburn, N.M., Sudman, S., and Wansink, B. (2004). Asking Questions: The Definitive Guide to Questionnaire Design -- For Market Research, Political Polls, and Social and Health Questionnaires. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Download reference:

Brown, R.P.C., Connell, J., Jimenez, E.V., and Leeves, G. (2006). Cents and Sensibility: the economic benefits of remittances. In: World Bank (ed.). Pacific Islands at Home and Away: Expanding Job Opportunities for Pacific Islanders through Labor Mobility. Washington: The World Bank: 42-97.

Download reference:

Brown, Richard P. C. and Connell, John (2004). The migration of doctors and nurses from South Pacific Island Nations. Social Science & Medicine 58(11): 2193-2210.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Brown, Richard P. C., Connell, John, and Jimenez-Soto, Eliana V. (2014). Migrants' Remittances, Poverty and Social Protection in the South Pacific: Fiji and Tonga. Population, Space and Place 20(5): 434-454.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Brown, Richard P. C. and Jimenez, Eliana V. (2011). Subjectively-assessed Welfare and International Remittances: Evidence from Tonga. Journal of Development Studies 47(6): 829-845.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Brown, Richard P. C. and Leeves, Gareth (2010). Comparative effects of migrants’ remittances on composition of recipient household income in two small, island economies. Applied Economics 43(27): 3965-3976.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Brown, Richard P. C., Leeves, Gareth, and Prayaga, Prabha (2013). Sharing Norm Pressures and Community Remittances: Evidence from a Natural Disaster in the Pacific Islands. Journal of Development Studies 50(3): 383-398.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Brown, Richard P. C. and Poirine, Bernard (2005). A Model of Migrants' Remittances with Human Capital Investment and Intrafimilial Transfers1. International Migration Review 39(2): 407-438.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Carling, J. (2008). The human dynamics of migrant transnationalism. Ethnic and Racial Studies 31(8): 1452-1477.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Carling, J., Erdal, M.B., Horst, C., and Wallacher, H. (2007). Legal, Rapid and Reasonably Priced? A Survey of Remittance Services in Norway. Oslo: International Peace Research Institute (PRIO Report 2007/3).

Download reference:

Carling, Jørgen (2012). Collecting, Analysing and Presenting Migration Histories. In: Vargas–Silva, C. (ed.). Handbook of Research Methods in Migration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar : 137-162.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Carling, Jørgen (2014). Scripting Remittances: Making Sense of Money Transfers in Transnational Relationships. International Migration Review 48(s1): 218-262.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Carling, Jørgen (2008). The determinants of migrant remittances. Oxford Review of Economic Policy 24(3): 581-598.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Carling, Jørgen, Erdal, Marta Bivand, and Horst, Cindy (2012). How does Conflict in Migrants’ Country of Origin Affect Remittance-Sending? Financial Priorities and Transnational Obligations Among Somalis and Pakistanis in Norway. International Migration Review 46(2): 283-309.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Carling, Jørgen and Hoelscher, Kristian (2013). The Capacity and Desire to Remit: Comparing Local and Transnational Influences. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 39(6): 939-958.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Chort, Isabelle, Gubert, Flore, and Senne, Jean-Noël (2012). Migrant networks as a basis for social control: Remittance incentives among Senegalese in France and Italy. Regional Science and Urban Economics 42(5): 858-874.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Clemens, Michael A. and Pritchett, Lant (2008). Income per Natural: Measuring Development for People Rather Than Places. Population and Development Review 34(3): 395-434.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Coast, Ernestina, Hampshire, Katherine, and Randall, Sara (2007). Disciplining anthropological demography. Demographic Research 16(16): 493-518.

Weblink:
Download reference:

De Brauw, A. and Carletto, G. (2008). Improving the Measurement and Policy Relevance of Migration Information in Multi–Topic Household Surveys. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Download reference:

Deaton, A. (1997). The Analysis of Household Surveys: A Microeconometric Approach to Development Policy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press for the World Bank.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Deon, Filmer and Pritchett, Lant H. (2001). Estimating Wealth Effects without Expenditure Data-or Tears: An Application to Educational Enrollments in States of India. Demography 38(1): 115-132.

Download reference:

El Qorchi, M., Maimbo, S.M., and Wilson, J.F. (2003). Informal Funds Transfer Systems : An Analysis of the Informal Hawala System. Washington: International Monetary Fund.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Erdal, M.B. (2012). Who is the Money for? Remittances within and beyond the Household in Pakistan. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal 21(4): 437-457.

Download reference:

Fantom, N. (2009). Improving the Measurement of International Remittances. Paper presented at the Rome International Conference on Remittances, Rome, 9 September.

Download reference:

Fisher, Monica, Reimer, Jeffrey J., and Carr, Edward R. (2010). Who Should be Interviewed in Surveys of Household Income? World Development 38(7): 966-973.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Foddy, William (1993). Constructing Questions for Interviews and Questionnaires. Theory and Practice in Social Research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Fransen, S., Kuschminder, K., and Siegel, M. (2012). Implementation of cross-country migration surveys in conflict-affected settings: Lessons from the IS Academy survey in Burundi and Ethiopia. Maastricht: UNU–MERIT (2012–019).

Download reference:

Groves, R.M., Fowler, F.J., Couper, M.P., Lepkowski, J.M., Singer, E., and Tourangeau, R. (2004). Survey Methodology. Hoboken: Wiley.

Download reference:

Hagen–Zanker, J. and Siegel, S. (2007). The determinants of remittances: A review of the literature. Maastricht: MGSOG (2007/3).

Download reference:

Hernandez, Ester Elizabeth (2002). Power in remittances : remaking family and nation among Salvadorans. Irvine: University of California, Faculty of Social Science.

Download reference:

Horst, Cindy, Erdal, Marta Bivand, Carling, J., and Afeef, Karin (2014). Private money, public scrutiny? Contrasting perspectives on remittances. Global Networks 14(4): 514-532.

Weblink:
Download reference:

International Organization for Migration (2007). Mainstreaming migration into development policy agendas. Geneva: IOM.

Download reference:

Kasinitz, P., Waters, M. C., Mollenkopf, J. H., and Anil, M. (2002). Transnationalism and the children of immigrants in contemporary New York. In: Levitt, P. and Waters, M.C. (eds.). The Changing Face of Home: The Transnational Lives of the Second Generation. New York: Russell Sage Foundation: 96-122.

Download reference:

Levitt, Peggy (1998). Social Remittances: Migration Driven Local-Level Forms of Cultural Diffusion. International Migration Review 32(4): 926-948.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Lindley, Anna (2009). The Early-Morning Phonecall: Remittances from a Refugee Diaspora Perspective. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 35(8): 1315-1334.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Loschmann, Craig and Siegel, Melissa (2014). The influence of vulnerability on migration intentions in Afghanistan. Migration and Development 3(1): 142-162.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Lucas, Robert E. B. and Stark, Oded (1985). Motivations to Remit: Evidence from Botswana. Journal of Political Economy 93(5): 901-918.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Mazzucato, V. (2008). Simultaneity and Networks in Transnational Migration: Lessons Learned from a Simultaneous Matched–Sample Methodology. In: DeWind, J. and Holdaway, J. (eds.). Migration and Development Within and Across Borders: Research and Policy Perspectives on Internal and International Migration. Geneva and New York: International Organization for Migration and Social Science Research Council: 69-100.

Download reference:

McKenzie, D. and Sasin, M.J. (2007). Migration, Remittances, Poverty and Human Capital: Conceptual and Empirical Challenges. Washington D. C.: World Bank Policy Research .

Download reference:

Millis, B., Orozco, M., and Raheem, Z. (2008). Mining remittance data: Practical considerations on survey design and administration. United States Agency for International Development (MicroREPORT #119).

Download reference:

Moser, Caroline (1998). The asset vulnerability framework: Reassessing urban poverty reduction strategies. World Development 26(1): 1-19.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Osili, Una Okonkwo (2007). Remittances and savings from international migration: Theory and evidence using a matched sample. Journal of Development Economics 83(2): 446-465.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Parry, H. and Crossley, H.M. (1950). Validity of Responses to Survey Questions. Public Opinion Quarterly 14(1): 61-80.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Plaza, S. and Navarrete, M., and Ratha, D. (2011). Migration and Remittances Household Surveys in Sub-Saharan Africa: Methodological Aspects and Main Findings. Background paper for the African Migration Project.

Download reference:

Randall, Sara, Coast, Ernestina, and Leone, Tiziana (2011). Cultural constructions of the concept of household in sample surveys. Population Studies 65(2): 217-229.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Randall, Sara and Koppenhaver, Todd (2004). Qualitative data in demography: The sound of silence and other problems. Demographic Research 11(3): 57-94.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Rapoport, H. and Docquier, F. (2006). The Economics of Migrants' Remittances. In: Kolm, S.C. and Ythier, J.M. (eds.). Handbook of the Economics of Giving, Reciprocity and Altruism : Applications Volume 2. Amsterdam: Elsevier : 1136-1195.

Download reference:

Rumbaut, R.G. (2002). Severed or sustained attachments? Language, identity and imagins communities in the post–immigrant generation. In: Levitt, P. and Waters, M.C. (eds.). The Changing Face of Home: The Transnational Lives of the Second Generation. New York: Russell Sage Foundation: 43-95.

Download reference:

Schatz, Enid (2012). Rationale and procedures for nesting semi-structured interviews in surveys or censuses. Population Studies 66(2): 183-195.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Sen, A. (2011). Development as Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Download reference:

Singh, Supriya and Cabraal, Anuja (2013). Contested Representations of Remittances and the Transnational Family. South Asia 36(1): 50-64.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Taylor, Edward J. (1999). The New Economics of Labour Migration and the Role of Remittances in the Migration Process. International Migration 37(1): 63-88.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Thai, H.C. (2014). Insufficient Funds: The Culture of Money in Low-Wage Transnational Families. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Download reference:

Tourangeau, R. and Smith, T.W. (1996). Asking sensitive questions – The impact of data collection mode, question format, and question context. Public Opinion Quarterly 60(2): 275-304.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Tourangeau, Roger and Yan, Ting (2007). Sensitive questions in surveys. Psychological Bulletin 133(5): 859-883.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Unger, B. and Siegel, M. (2006). The Netherlands-Suriname Corridor for Workers' Remittances: Prospects for Remittances when Migration Ties Loosen. Utrecht: Dutch Ministry of Finance and the World Bank.

Download reference:

US Census Bureau (2008). Current Population Survey. Washington, DC: Department of the Census (Immigration/Emigration Supplement File).

Download reference:

Wooldridge, J.M. (2010). Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data. London: MIT Press.

Download reference:

Young, Helen, Osman, Abdalmonium, and Dale, Rebecca (2007). Darfurian Livelihoods and Libya: Trade, Migration, and Remittance Flows in Times of Conflict and Crisis1. International Migration Review 41(4): 826-849.

Weblink:
Download reference:

Back to the article