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Directing Remittances to Education with Soft and Hard Commitments: Evidence from a Lab-in-the-field Experiment and New Product Take-up Among Filipino Migrants in Rome

Author

Listed:
  • Giuseppe De Arcangelis
  • Majlinda Joxhe
  • David McKenzie
  • Erwin Tiongson
  • Dean Yang
Abstract
This paper tests how migrants’ willingness to remit changes when given the ability to direct remittances to educational purposes using different forms of commitment. Variants of a dictator game in a lab-in-the-field experiment with Filipino migrants in Rome are used to examine remitting behavior under varying degrees of commitment. These range from the soft commitment of simply labeling remittances as being for education, to the hard commitment of having funds directly paid to a school and the student’s educational performance monitored. We find that the introduction of simple labeling for education raises remittances by more than 15 percent. Adding the ability to directly send this funding to the school adds only a further 2.2 percent. We randomly vary the information asymmetry between migrants and their most closely connected household, but find no significant change in the remittance response to these forms of commitment as information varies. Behavior in these games is then shown to be predictive of take-up of a new financial product called EduPay, designed to allow migrants to directly pay remittances to schools in the Philippines. We find this take-up is largely driven by a response to the ability to label remittances for education, rather than to the hard commitment feature of directly paying schools.

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  • Giuseppe De Arcangelis & Majlinda Joxhe & David McKenzie & Erwin Tiongson & Dean Yang, 2015. "Directing Remittances to Education with Soft and Hard Commitments: Evidence from a Lab-in-the-field Experiment and New Product Take-up Among Filipino Migrants in Rome," NBER Working Papers 20839, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20839
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kate Ambler & Diego Aycinena & Dean Yang, 2015. "Channeling Remittances to Education: A Field Experiment among Migrants from El Salvador," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(2), pages 207-232, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Augsburg, Britta & Caeyers, Bet & Giunti, Sara & Malde, Bansi & Smets, Susanna, 2023. "Labeled loans and human capital investments," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    2. Delpierre, Matthieu & Dupuy, Arnaud & Tenikue, Michel & Verheyden, Bertrand, 2017. "The Education Motive for Migrant Remittances: Theory and Evidence from India," IZA Discussion Papers 10772, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Chabé-Ferret, Bastien & Machado, Joël & Wahba, Jackline, 2018. "Remigration intentions and migrants' behavior," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 56-72.
    4. Grigoriadis, Theocharis, 2017. "Religion, administration & public goods: Experimental evidence from Russia," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 42-60.
    5. Augsburg,Britta & Caeyers,Bet & Giunti,Sara & Malde,Bansi Khimji & Smets,Susanna, 2019. "Labelled Loans, Credit Constraints and Sanitation Investments," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8845, The World Bank.
    6. Melissa Siegel, 2017. "Commentaires sur « Des politiques migratoires pour promouvoir le développement »," Revue d’économie du développement, De Boeck Université, vol. 25(1), pages 97-103.
    7. Kate Ambler & Diego Aycinena & Dean Yang, 2015. "Channeling Remittances to Education: A Field Experiment among Migrants from El Salvador," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(2), pages 207-232, April.
    8. Aflahagah, Fo Kodjo Dzinyefa & Bernard, Tanguy & Viceisza, Angelino, 2015. "Communication and coordination: Experimental evidence from farmer groups in Senegal:," IFPRI discussion papers 1450, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    9. Bastien Chabé-Ferret & Joël Machado & Jackline Wahba, 2016. "Return Plans and Migrants' Behavior," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2016016, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    10. Catia Batista & David Costa & Pedro Freitas & Goncalo Lima & Ana Reis, 2024. "What Matters for the Decision to Study Abroad? A Lab-in-the-Field Experiment in Cape Verde," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 2413, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    11. De Arcangelis, Giuseppe & Fertig, Alexander & Liang, Yuna & Srouji, Peter & Yang, Dean, 2023. "Measuring remittances," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    12. Björn NILSSON, 2019. "Education and migration: insights for policymakers," Working Paper 23ca9c54-061a-4d60-967c-f, Agence française de développement.
    13. Giuseppe De Arcangelis & Dean Yang, 2022. "Labeled Remittances: A Field Experiment among Filipino Migrant Workers in the UAE," Working Papers 684, Research Seminar in International Economics, University of Michigan.
    14. Rosa Weber, 2015. "Does intermarriage change migrants’ preferences for the home country?," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, December.
    15. Farai Jena, 2016. "The remittance behaviour of Kenyan sibling migrants," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-19, December.
    16. Jean N. Lee & Jonathan Morduch & Saravana Ravindran & Abu S. Shonchoy, 2023. "The Social Meaning of Mobile Money: Willingness to Pay with Mobile Money in Bangladesh," Working Papers 2304, Florida International University, Department of Economics.
    17. Gibson, John & McKenzie, David & Rohorua, Halahingano & Stillman, Steven, 2020. "Reprint of: The long-term impact of international migration on economic decision-making: Evidence from a migration lottery and lab-in-the-field experiments," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    18. Giuseppe Arcangelis & Majlinda Joxhe, 2021. "Intra-household allocation with shared expenditure choices: experimental evidence from Filipino migrants," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1245-1274, December.
    19. Gibson, John & McKenzie, David & Rohorua, Halahingano & Stillman, Steven, 2019. "The long-term impact of international migration on economic decision-making: Evidence from a migration lottery and lab-in-the-field experiments," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 99-115.
    20. Ur Rehman, Obeid, 2023. "Spousal communication and information sharing: Evidence from migrants and their spouses," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    21. Giuseppe Arcangelis & Majlinda Joxhe, 0. "Intra-household allocation with shared expenditure choices: experimental evidence from Filipino migrants," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-30.
    22. Ernestina Dankyi & Valentina Mazzucato & Takyiwaa Manuh, 2017. "Reciprocity in global social protection: providing care for migrants’ children," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(1), pages 80-95, January.
    23. Lee, Jean N. & Morduch, Jonathan & Ravindran, Saravana & Shonchoy, Abu S., 2024. "The social meaning of mobile money: Earmarking reduces the willingness to spend in migrant households," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 675-688.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C9 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments
    • D19 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Other
    • F24 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Remittances
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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