Remittances and their Effect on Emigration Intentions in Egypt, Morocco and Turkey
Author(s): G. Groenewold H. P. van Dalen T. Fokkema
This article examines which migration intentions determine remittances and whether remittances trigger additional migration. The paper is based on a large-scale household survey that contains data on emigrant households in Turkey, Morocco and Egypt. The results show that in all countries, the family ties and net earnings potential of emigrants have stronger effects than the net earnings potential of households in country of origin on the receipt of remittances. Considering the dynamics within the household, it is observed that married emigrants who have left a spouse and children behind are expected to remit money to them but these emigrants may also need to remit to more distant kin since marriage involves expansion of the kinship group. Finally, this piece of research proves that the receipt of remittances has a positive effect on emigration intentions of household members living in the country of origin. Therefore, the article concludes that receipt of remittances may contribute to new flows of migration, in particular in the case of Morocco.