International migration, remittances, and schooling: Evidence from El Salvador

We examine the effect of remittances from abroad on households' schooling decisions using data for El Salvador. Following the massive war-related emigration of the 1980s, remittances became a significant source of household income throughout the 1990s. We use the Cox proportional hazard model t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of development economics 2003-12, Vol.72 (2), p.429-461
Main Authors: Edwards, Alejandra Cox, Ureta, Manuelita
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arbeitnehmer
Arbeitsmigration
Ausländer
Bildungsverhalten
Development economics
Development studies
Economic models
Education
El Salvador
Family income
Hazard models
Households
International migration
Remittances
School attendance
School choice
School retention rates
Schooling
Schools
Statistical analysis
Studies
Urban areas
Ökonometrie
Überweisung
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Summary:We examine the effect of remittances from abroad on households' schooling decisions using data for El Salvador. Following the massive war-related emigration of the 1980s, remittances became a significant source of household income throughout the 1990s. We use the Cox proportional hazard model to examine the determinants of school attendance. Measuring income from a source that is uncorrelated with parental schooling—remittances—, we find that remittances have a large, significant effect on school retention. We estimate that while household income net of remittances has a small, though significant, impact on the hazard of leaving school in rural and urban areas, remittances have a much larger impact on the hazard of leaving school. In urban areas, the effect of remittances is, at its smallest, 10 times the size of the effect of other income. In rural areas, the effect of remittances is about 2.6 times that of other income. Our finding is of interest in that it suggests that subsidizing school attendance, particularly in poor areas, may have a large impact on school attendance and retention, even if parents have low levels of schooling.
ISSN:0304-3878
1872-6089
DOI:10.1016/S0304-3878(03)00115-9