Journal de l'économie mondiale

The Impact of Remittances on the Living Conditions of Households (Evidence from Kebri Dehar City, Ethiopia): Propensity Score Matching Model (PSM)

Abstract

Walelign Amenu Zeleke*

A good life cannot be achieved without having good living conditions. So the general objective of this study was to analyze the impact of remittances on the living conditions of remittances receiving households, in Kebri Dehar city. Propensity score matching using probit regression model used to examine for this study. The household living condition can be measured with different outcome indicators namely household income, household consumption expenditure, and household food expenditure for remittance receiver and non-receiver households. The findings revealed that remittances significantly improve household income, consumption, and food expenditures for recipients in comparison with non-recipients. Primary data was collected on household questionnaires with 384 sample respondents drawn from both remittances receiving and non-remittance receiving households using cross-sectional data in Kebri Dehar city. To find those migrants’ remittances could improve the living conditions of households in Kebri Dehar city and affect negatively the incidence of poverty. Generally, the results show a positive and significant impact of remittances on the living condition of households. Hence, support increasing arguments that the government, as well as other concerned stakeholders, should effectively work on easing the remittance sending process and cost, so as to better extract the well-being benefit of migrant remittances.