Graduation Year

2015

Date of Submission

4-2015

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Economics

Reader 1

Jeffrey A. Flory

Rights Information

© 2015 Kasvi Malik

Abstract

This thesis examines the relationship between received remittances and education using random samples from panel survey data from households in rural Malawi collected between 2008 and 2010. Past research as well as that conducted in this paper point to the fact that remittances and education share an important correlation. The results of this study indicate that on a microeconomic level, remittances have a highly significant and positive impact on household education. Other remittance-related factors such as the distance from agent, the remittance amount, and the type of account held by an individual also have a significant impact on the highest level of education attained by an individual, whereas the account type, age, gender, and marital status are important determinants in the probability of an individual ever having attended school. The results from this study raise questions as to whether the “brain drain” can actually have a positive impact on developing nations. The study also discusses policy implications for money transfer operators in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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