The impact of Covid-19 on international migration and remittances in developing countries
Date
2023-03-20
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
International migration from developing countries and remittances to those same countries have risen steadily over time due to various factors. Remittance is a source of income for most developing countries. Both sending and receiving countries benefit from migration. However, shocks such as natural crises, pandemics and epidemics (COVID-19 and Ebola) have devastated the economy worldwide, with a high unemployment rate and lower income. This research report aimed to study the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on migration and remittances in developing countries to establish the relationship between inflow remittances and migration outflow controlling for other factors (such as unemployment rate, internet access, economic growth and GDP growth). World Bank data and UNDESA data were used in the study. However, the developing countries were dichotomized as African and non_African countries for an in-depth analysis. The study employed multiple regression model to identify the associations between variables. Results of the study found that in African countries before and during COVID-19, there was no significant relationship between migration outflow and inflow of remittances. Furthermore, the control variables did not have an effect on the dependent variable. For non-African countries, the result shows that COVID-19 did significantly affect the relationship between inflow remittances and migration outflow; when migration outflow increases, there is a decrease in remittances inflow.
Description
A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (e-Science) to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024
Keywords
Migration, migrants, remittances, Covid-19
Citation
Zihindula, Awa. (2023). The impact of Covid-19 on international migration and remittances in developing countries [Master’s dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg].