Remittance Prices Worldwide

MAKING MARKETS MORE TRANSPARENT

Greenback 2.0 Working Paper on remittances and economic crisis

Based on the Greenback 2.0 Turin Survey, this paper explores the effect of the economic crisis on income trends and on the flow of monetary remittances sent to the families left home among three surveyed groups in Turin — Moroccans, Peruvians, and Romanians. Results show a widespread worsening of the average economic conditions since the outbreak of the crisis in 2008. The protracted economic instability seems to have effects on migrants’ ability to keep remittance flows constant over time, with differentiated outcomes according to the national groups. While Moroccans show a higher propensity in receiving remittances, Peruvians are those who resist more to a remittance drop over the last five years. Beyond economic determinants, observed patterns in remittance trends can also be explained by migrant household characteristics in Italy and abroad and to unobserved variables (distance) related to the country of origin.