The impact of Migrant Workers' Remittances on the Living Standards of families in Morocco: a Propensity Score Matching Approach

Jamal Bouoiyour (1) , Amal Miftah (2)

1 CATT - Centre d'Analyse Théorique et de Traitement des données économiques
2 LEDA-DIAL - Développement, Institutions et Modialisation

This article attempts to assess empirically the impact of remittances on household expenditure and relative poverty in Morocco. We apply propensity score matching methods to the 2006/2007 Moroccan Living Standards Measurement Survey. We find that migrants’ remittances can improve living standards among Moroccan households and affect negatively the incidence of poverty. The results show a statistically significant and positive impact of hose remittances on recipient households’ expenditures. They are also significantly associated with a decline in the probability of being in poverty for rural households; it decreases by 11.3 percentage points. In comparison, this probability decreases by 3 points in urban area.

Keywords: Poverty; Remittances; Propensity score matching; Morocco

Domains: Economics and Finance

Jamal Bouoiyour, Amal Miftah. The impact of Migrant Workers' Remittances on the Living Standards of families in Morocco: a Propensity Score Matching Approach. 2014. ⟨hal-01880337⟩