Researcher ORCID Identifier

0009-0005-9412-3566

Graduation Year

2026

Date of Submission

4-2026

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Economics

Reader 1

William Lincoln

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Abstract

This paper examines the structural and institutional determinants of remittance inflows in a panel of 40 net-emigration countries from 2000 to 2024. By restricting the sample to countries with negative average net migration, the analysis holds migration pressure constant and isolates the role of domestic conditions in explaining cross-country variation in remittance dependence. Using fixed effects and correlated random effects (Mundlak) estimators, I find that labor force participation is the most robust within-country determinant: a one percentage point increase is associated with approximately a 2.3 percent decline in remittance inflows, consistent with remittances functioning as a structural need in contexts of labor market weakness. Political instability is also positively associated with remittance dependence, while financial development, trade openness, and exchange rates do not exhibit robust within-country relationships. These findings suggest that remittance dependence may reflect the institutional and labor market conditions that generate emigration rather than a country's degree of financial or economic integration.

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