Do remittances improve political institutions? Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Do remittances represent a significant positive determinant of democratic institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa? In this paper, we estimate the effect that remittances have on democratic institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa over the period 1975–2014. Using a 5-year non-overlapping panel sample and controlling for country and time fixed effects, we find that remittances are positively associated with democratic institutions. Our baseline system-GMM estimates indicate that a one standard deviation increase in remittance flows improves democratic institutions by around 0.32 standard deviations. Furthermore, we find that remittances improve democratic institutions by increasing schooling and reducing poverty.