Emigrant's Transfers in Senegal: The Role of ICT

Abstract

In 2011, remittances from Senegalese migrants constituted 86%1 of the funds required for the daily survival of recipient households. In this paper, we try to analyse the role of ICT in Senegalese emigrant's transfers through its impact on the household's welfare. Using a multinomial logit model, and a quantile regression, we measure the propensity of households to increase their well-being due to ICT use for fund transfers. Well-being is identified through an indicator that divides households into quantiles based on the volume of funds received in one year from emigrants and their living conditions. The results show that, firstly, the well-being of households is influenced by the degree of ICT use, and secondly, the degree of ICT use influences the frequency of the funds sent. These results suggest that private investment in ICT should be encouraged, especially in local communities, so that the technology is nearer to the populations.

Keywords:

• Transfers
• Information Technology and Communication
• Quantile regression
• Logistic regression

Keywords:

• C21
• C81
• C35

Acknowledgement

Thanks to Hilaire Hounkpodoté for all the help he has given in the preparation of this paper. Errors and omissions related to this document are mine.

Notes

The database of the national survey on transfers from Senegalese emigrants conducted in 2011 on 3,400 recipient households is used for this purpose.