Resource information
This paper aims to investigate
empirically how international migration and remittances in
Indonesia, particularly female migration, affect child
outcomes and labor supply behavior in sending households.
The authors analyze the Indonesia Family Life Survey data
set and apply an instrumental variable estimation method,
using historical migration networks as instruments for
migration and remittance receipts. The study finds that, in
Indonesia, the impacts of international migration on sending
households are likely to vary depending on the gender of the
migrants. On average, migration reduces the working hours of
remaining household members, but this effect is not observed
in households with female migrants. At the same time, female
migration and their remittances tend to reduce child labor.
The estimated impacts of migration and remittances on school
enrollment are not statistically significant, but this
result is interesting in that the directions of the effects
can be opposite when the migrant is male or female