Remittances and Labor Supply in Post-Conflict Tajikistan

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may Abstract:We analyze the impact of remittances on the labor supply of men and women in post-conflict Tajikistan. Individuals from remittance-receiving households are less likely to participate in the labor market and supply fewer hours when they do. The results are robust to different measures of remittances and migration. When we differentiate between regions by their exposure to the 1992-1998 armed conflict, we observe that the negative effect of remittances on the labor supply of women is primarily driven by women from the regions more exposed to fighting and destruction during the war. Remittances have a similar negative effect on the supply of labor hours worked across all regions, both for men and women. Further, in the households that do not have migrants, remittances have no effect on the labor supply by males, suggesting that migration and not remittances is the primary factor explaining male labor force participation.

Labour effects of foreign and domestic remittances – evidence from Pakistan

“…Other studies that find negative labour participation effects for women include Acosta (2011), Cabejin (2006, Hanson (2007b), Lokshin and Glinskaya (2009), and Mendola and Carletto (2009). On the other hand, Justino and Shemyakina (2010) find the intriguing result that the negative effect of remittances on the labour supply is smaller for women than for men, a finding they explain in the context of Tajikistan's social conflict. Another interesting question is what migrant households do when they decrease their labour supply.…”

“…Similarly, Görlich, Mahmoud, and Trebesch (2007); Gubert (2002), Jadotte (2009), and Justino and Shemyakina (2010) bring evidence of negative participation effects of remittances from Moldova, Mali, Haiti and post-conflict Tajikistan respectively. Some studies, however, find no significant impact of remittances on the labour supply (Funkhouser 2006;Yang 2008).…”

Women and Peace Building: Local Perspectives on Opportunities and Barriers

“…They provide essential economic and social support to reconstructing communities affected by violent conflict (Justino, ; Kumar, ; Moser and Clark, ; Rehn and Sirleaf, ). Several studies have reported an increase in female labour‐market participation in conflict‐affected countries, including in Afghanistan (Bove and Gavrilova, ), Indonesia (Adam, ), Timor‐Leste (Justino et al., ), Nepal (Menon and Rodgers, ), Tajikistan (Justino and Shemyakina, ) and Colombia (Calderón et al., ) — mostly in low‐skilled jobs in the informal sector (Justino et al., ; Kumar, ). Women also provide social services in areas affected by violent conflict, often voluntarily.…”

Measuring inclusive growth experiences: Five criteria for productive employment

“…What they have in common instead is the experience of high inflows of capital, for Tajikistan mainly in the form of remittances (World Bank, 2006b) and for Romania largely from the EU (Duenwald, Gueorguiev, & Schaechter, 2007). At the same time, labor has migrated from both countries at high rates, resulting in a lower supply of labor (Justino & Shemyakina, 2012). Both flows make labor the relatively scarce production factor, thereby increasing the wage.…”