Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The necessity of social infrastructure for enhancing educational attainment: evidence from high remittance recipient LMICs

  • Published:
Economic Change and Restructuring Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of remittance inflows on educational attainment with the interaction effect of social infrastructure. The system generalized method of moments (Sys-GMM) technique was applied to analyze data from 69 countries from 1995 to 2019 using a 5-year non-overlapping average. The findings revealed that: (1) remittances and income have a negative effect on educational attainment in low- and middle-income countries; (2) social infrastructure, government expenditures on education, and institutional quality have a positive effect on educational attainment; (3) remittances alone cannot generate educational attainment; however, when remittances work in tandem with better social infrastructure, it facilitates educational attainment; (4) remittances and social infrastructure have asymmetric effects on educational attainment; and (5) remittances contribute more to females than males in obtaining an education. Thus, the findings suggest that policymakers should formulate alternative social infrastructure development strategies to render higher returns from remittances.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Previous studies have examined the effects of: infrastructure on educational attainment (Kusharjanto and Kim 2011); electricity consumption on human development (Leung and Meisen 2005); rural infrastructure investment on educational attainment (Ali and Pernia 2003; Duffy-Deno and Eberts, 1991; Ezcurra et al. 2005; Fan and Zhang, 2004); and access to road and sanitation on educational attainment (Estache and Fay 1995).

  2. Social Infrastructure Index = w1pc1 + w2pc2 + w3pc3 + w4pc4 + w5pc5 + w6pc6 + w7pc7 + w8pc8.

References

  • Acharya CP, Leon-Gonzalez R (2014) How do migration and remittances affect human capital investment? The effects of relaxing information and liquidity constraints. J Dev Stud 50:444–460

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Acosta P, Calderon C, Fajnzylber P et al (2008) What is the impact of international remittances on poverty and inequality in Latin America? World Dev 36:89–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adams RH Jr, Page J (2005) Do international migration and remittances reduce poverty in developing countries? World Dev 33:1645–1669

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adams RHJ and Cuecuecha A. (2010) The economic impact of international remittances on poverty and household consumption and investment in Indonesia: The World Bank

  • Al Mamun M, Sohag K, Uddin GS et al (2015) Remittance and domestic labor productivity: evidence from remittance recipient countries. Econ Model 47:207–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alcaraz C, Chiquiar D, Salcedo A (2012) Remittances, schooling, and child labor in Mexico. J Dev Econ 97:156–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ali I and Pernia EM. (2003) Infrastructure and poverty reduction-what is the connection?

  • Amuedo-Dorantes C, Pozo S (2010) Accounting for remittance and migration effects on children’s schooling. World Dev 38:1747–1759

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antman FM (2011) The intergenerational effects of paternal migration on schooling and work: what can we learn from children’s time allocations? J Dev Econ 96:200–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arif I, Raza SA, Friemann A et al (2019) The role of remittances in the development of higher education: evidence from top remittance receiving countries. Soc Indic Res 141:1233–1243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arvanitis S, Loukis EN (2009) Information and communication technologies, human capital, workplace organization and labour productivity: a comparative study based on firm-level data for Greece and Switzerland. Inf Econ Policy 21:43–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Askarov Z, Doucouliagos H (2020) A meta-analysis of the effects of remittances on household education expenditure. World Dev 129:104860

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Azizi S (2018) The impacts of workers’ remittances on human capital and labor supply in developing countries. Econ Model 75:377–396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A-x Z, Zhang H-b (2021) The structure of unemployment risk perception among migrant workers in China: an exploratory mixed methods study. Asian Pac Migr J 30:169–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baloch A, Mohd Z and Bani Y (2017) The impact of gender equality on education inequality: a global analysis based on GMM dynamic panel estimation. Int J Econ Manag 11

  • Bank W. (2016) The World Bank Annual Report 2018: The World Bank

  • Bank W. (2018) The World Bank Annual Report 2018: The World Bank

  • Barro RJ, Lee JW (2017) A new data set of educational attainment in the world, 1950–2010. J Develop Econ 104:184–198

  • Barajas A, Chami R, Espinoza RA, et al. (2010) Recent credit stagnation in the MENA region: What to expect? What can be done? IMF Working Papers, pp. 1–19

  • Benhamou ZA, Cassin L (2021) The impact of remittances on savings, capital and economic growth in small emerging countries. Econ Model 94:789–803

  • Benos N, Karagiannis S (2016) Do education quality and spillovers matter? Evidence on human capital and productivity in Greece. Econ Model 54:563–573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blundell R, Bond S (1998) Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models. J Econom 87(1):115–143

  • Bond S (1999) Basic infrastructure for socio-economic development, environmental protection and geographical desegregation: South Africa’s unmet challenge. Geoforum 30:43–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bouoiyour J, Miftah A (2015) The impact of migrant workers’ remittances on the living standards of families in Morocco: a propensity score matching approach. Migr Lett 12:13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bouoiyour J, Miftah A (2016) Education, male gender preference and migrants' remittances: Interactions in rural Morocco. Econ Model 57:324–331

  • Brambor T, Clark WR, Golder M (2006) Understanding interaction models: improving empirical analyses. Polit Anal 14:63–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bredl S (2011) Migration, remittances and educational outcomes: the case of Haiti. Int J Educ Dev 31:162–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brixiová Z, Kangoye T, Said M (2020) Training, human capital, and gender gaps in entrepreneurial performance. Econ Model 85:367–380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bucheli JR, Bohara AK, Fontenla M (2018) Mixed effects of remittances on child education. IZA J Dev Migr 8:10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calderón C and Servén L. (2004) The effects of infrastructure development on growth and income distribution: The World Bank

  • Campbell SG, Üngör M (2020) Revisiting human capital and aggregate income differences. Econ Model 91:43–64

  • Cattaneo C (2012) Migrants’ international transfers and educational expenditure: empirical evidence from Albania. Econ Transit 20:163–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chaaban J and Mansour W. (2012) The impact of remittances on education in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Econ Res Forum Working Paper

  • Chami R, Hakura DS, Montiel PJ (2012) Do worker remittances reduce output volatility in developing countries? J Global Dev 3:1948–1837

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Y, Fang Z (2018) Industrial electricity consumption, human capital investment and economic growth in Chinese cities. Econ Model 69:205–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chin L, Saydaliev HB and Sirag A. (2021) Leveraging remittances to promote inclusive growth and reduce poverty: evidence from low-and middle-income asian economies. Poverty reduction for inclusive sustainable growth in developing Asia. Springer, pp. 101–121

  • Coondoo D, Dinda S (2002) Causality between income and emission: a country group-specific econometric analysis. Ecol Econ 40(3):351–367

  • De PK, Ratha D (2012) Impact of remittances on household income, asset and human capital: evidence from Sri Lanka. Migr Dev 1:163–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Maria C, Lazarova EA (2012) Migration, human capital formation, and growth: an empirical investigation. World Dev 40:938–955

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Docquier F, Rapoport H, Salomone S (2012) Remittances, migrants’ education and immigration policy: theory and evidence from bilateral data. Reg Sci Urban Econ 42:817–828

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards AC, Ureta M (2003) International migration, remittances, and schooling: evidence from El Salvador. J Dev Econ 72:429–461

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estache A, Fay M (1995) Regional growth in Argentina and Brazil: determinants and policy options. The World Bank, Mimeo, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Ezcurra R, Gil C, Pascual P et al (2005) Public capital, regional productivity and spatial spillovers. Ann Reg Sci 39:471–494

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fay M, Toman M, Benitez D, et al. (2019) Infrastructure and sustainable development. Postcrisis Growth Dev pp. 329–382

  • Fourie J (2006) Economic infrastructure: a review of definitions, theory and empirics. South Afr J Econ 74:530–556

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao X, Kikkawa A and Kang J. (2021) Evaluating the impact of remittances on human capital investment in the Kyrgyz Republic. Asian Development Bank Economics Working Paper Series

  • Griffith AL, Rothstein DS (2009) Can’t get there from here: the decision to apply to a selective college. Econ Educ Rev 28:620–628

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guha P (2013) Macroeconomic effects of international remittances: the case of developing economies. Econ Model 33:292–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hassan MU, Mehmood H, Hassan MS (2013) Consequences of worker’s remittances on human capital: an in-depth investigation for a case of Pakistan. Middle-East J Sci Res 14:443–452

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayakawa K, Nagata S (2016) On the behaviour of the GMM estimator in persistent dynamic panel data models with unrestricted initial conditions. Comput Stat Data Anal 100:265–303

  • Hines AL, Simpson NB (2019) Migration, remittances and human capital investment in Kenya. Econ Notes Rev Bank Financ Monet Econ 48:e12142

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu F (2012) Migration, remittances, and children’s high school attendance: the case of rural China. Int J Educ Dev 32:401–411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ikhenaode BI and Parello CP. (2020) Immigration and remittances in a two-country model of growth with labor market frictions. Econ Model

  • Issabayev M, Saydaliyev H, Avsar V et al (2020) Remittances, institutions and financial inclusion: new evidence of non-linearity. Glob Econ J 20:2050002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jerome A. (1999) Infrastructure in Africa: the record: African Development Bank

  • Kandel W, Kao G (2001) The impact of temporary labor migration on Mexican children’s educational aspirations and performance. Int Migr Rev 35:1205–1231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufmann D, Kraay A and Mastruzzi M. (2011) The worldwide governance indicators, 2011 update. Washington, DC: World Bank. http://www.govindicators.org

  • Köllner S. (2013) Remittances and educational attainment: evidence from Tajikistan. Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Beiträge des Lehrstuhls für

  • Kusharjanto H, Kim D (2011) Infrastructure and human development: the case of Java, Indonesia. J Asia Pac Econ 16:111–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lansing JS. (1995) The Balinese: Wadsworth Publishing Company

  • Lenkei B, Mustafa G, Vecchi M (2018) Growth in emerging economies: Is there a role for education? Econ Model 73:240–253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leung CS and Meisen P. (2005) How electricity consumption affects social and economic development by comparing low, medium and high human development countries. GENI: San Diego, CA

  • Li X, Zhou Y (2013) An economic analysis of remittance of unskilled migration on skilled–unskilled wage inequality in labor host region. Econ Model 33:428–432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mansour W, Chaaban J, Litchfield J (2011) The impact of migrant remittances on school attendance and education attainment: evidence from Jordan. Int Migr Rev 45:812–851

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matano A and Ramos R. (2013) Remittances and educational outcomes: evidence for Moldova. SEARCH working paper WP3/10. April 2013. http://www.ub.edu/searchproject

  • McKenzie D and Rapoport H. (2006) Can migration reduce educational attainment? Evidence from Mexico: The World Bank

  • McKenzie D, Rapoport H (2010) Self-selection patterns in Mexico-US migration: the role of migration networks. Rev Econ Stat 92:811–821

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKenzie D, Rapoport H (2011) Can migration reduce educational attainment? evidence from Mexico. J Popul Econ 24:1331–1358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medina C and Cardona L. (2010) The effects of remittances on household consumption, education attendance and living standards: the case of Colombia. Lecturas de Economía pp. 11–43

  • Moshirian F, Wu Q (2012) Banking industry volatility and economic growth. Res Int Bus Finan 26(3):428–442

  • Naito T, Zhao L (2020) Capital accumulation through studying abroad and return migration. Econ Model 87:185–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ngoma AL, Ismail NW (2013) Do migrant remittances promote human capital formation? evidence from 89 developing countries. Migr Dev 2:106–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen CV, Nguyen HQ (2015) Do internal and international remittances matter to health, education and labor of children and adolescents? the case of Vietnam. Child Youth Serv Rev 58:28–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ortiz-Correa JS (2016) Impact of access to water and sanitation services on educational attainment. Water Resour Econ 14:31–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poirine B (1997) A theory of remittances as an implicit family loan arrangement. World Dev 25:589–611

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Posso A (2012) Remittances and aggregate labor supply: evidence from sixty-six developing nations. Dev Econ 50:25–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pradhan RP, Bagchi TP (2013) Effect of transportation infrastructure on economic growth in India: the VECM approach. Res Transp Econ 38:139–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Randazzo T, Piracha M (2019) Remittances and household expenditure behaviour: evidence from Senegal∗. Econ Model 79:141–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rao BB, Hassan GM (2011) A panel data analysis of the growth effects of remittances. Econ Model 28:701–709

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roodman D (2009) How to do xtabond2: An introduction to difference and system GMM in Stata. Stata J 9(1):86–136

  • Sahoo P, Dash RK, Nataraj G (2012) China’s growth story: the role of physical and social infrastructure. J Econ Dev 37:53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salas VB (2014) International remittances and human capital formation. World Dev 59:224–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Satti SL, Hassan MS, Hayat F et al (2016) Economic growth and inflow of remittances: do they combat poverty in an emerging economy? Soc Indic Res 127:1119–1134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saydaliyev HB, Chin L and Mohamed A. (2020) Remittance inflow and economic development: interaction with financial inclusion and human capital. Migr Dev pp. 1–18

  • Saydaliev HB, Chin L, Oskenbayev Y (2020) The nexus of remittances. Inst Qual Financ Inclus Econ Res 33:3528–3544. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2020.1774795

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schultz TP. (1992) The role of education and human capital in economic development: an empirical assessment. Center Discussion Paper

  • Schultz TW (1961) Investment in human capital. Am Econ Rev 51:1–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Sobiech I (2019) Remittances, finance and growth: does financial development foster the impact of remittances on economic growth? World Dev 113:44–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanley D, Fleming N (2019) The impact of foreign and domestic remittance types and senders on education outcomes. Econ Notes Rev Bank Financ Monet Econ 48:e12140

    Google Scholar 

  • Subedi BP (2021) Rural–urban migration and ethnic diversification in Kathmandu Metropolitan City. Nepal Asian Pac Migr J 30:225–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Thakurata I (2020) Child labour and human capital in developing countries: a multi-period stochastic model. Child labor in the developing world. Springer, pp. 35–81

  • Todd PE, Wolpin KI (2003) On the specification and estimation of the production function for cognitive achievement. Econ J 113:F3–F33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vogel A, Korinek K (2012) Passing by the girls? Remittance allocation for educational expenditures and social inequality in Nepal’s households 2003–2004. Int Migr Rev 46:61–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams K (2017) Do remittances improve political institutions? Evidence from sub-saharan Africa. Econ Model 61:65–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoshino N, Taghizadeh-Hesary F, Otsuka M (2018) International remittances and poverty reduction: evidence from developing Asia. J Comparat Asian Dev 17:21–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Yoshino N, Taghizadeh-Hesary F, Otsuka M (2020) Determinants of international remittance inflow in Asia-Pacific middle-income countries. Econ Anal Policy 68:29–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou M, Murphy R, Tao R (2014) Effects of parents’ migration on the education of children left behind in rural China. Popul Dev Rev 40:273–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhunio MC, Vishwasrao S, Chiang EP (2012) The influence of remittances on education and health outcomes: a cross country study. Appl Econ 44:4605–4616

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mathematical Methods in Economics, Tashkent State University of Economics, 100003, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

    Hayot Berk Saydaliev

  2. School of Business and Economics, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Malaysia

    Lee Chin

Authors
  1. Hayot Berk Saydaliev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lee Chin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hayot Berk Saydaliev.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 8

Table 8 List of sample countries
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Saydaliev, H.B., Chin, L. The necessity of social infrastructure for enhancing educational attainment: evidence from high remittance recipient LMICs. Econ Change Restruct 56, 1823–1847 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10644-023-09491-y

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10644-023-09491-y

Keywords

JEL Classification

Search

Navigation