SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

ECONOMICS 381
ECONOMIC RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Winter Term, 2015

Model content for Tasks:

Task 1: Select a research topic.

Research topic: The economic impact of international migration: the effect of remittances on the
community of origin.
This research will focus on the impact that international migration and remittances have on
poverty in the developing world. About 3% of the worlds population live outside their country
of birth. Many of those people are financial migrants who are seeking to improve their own and
their familys financial status. Many send a significant portion of their earning back to their home
community to improve the well-being of family members left behind. In this study, I propose to
examine whether remittances from international migrants serve to reduce overall levels of
poverty in the sending or home community of the migrant.

Task 2: Identify five (5) relevant articles related to your research topic in the
literature.
Adams, R., Jr. (1991). The effects of international remittances on poverty, inequality and
development in rural Egypt. Research Report 86. International Food Policy Research
Institute, Washington, DC.
Gustafson, B., & Makonnen, N. (1993). Poverty and remittances in Lesotho. Journal of African
Economies, 2, 4973.
Ratha, D. (2004). Enhancing the developmental effect of workers remittances to developing
countries. In Global development finance (pp. 169173). Washington, DC: World Bank.
Taylor, J. E. (1992). Remittances and inequality reconsidered: direct, indirect and intertemporal
effects. Journal of Policy Modeling, 14, 187208.
Vogler, M., & Rotte, R. (2000). The effects of development on migration: theoretical issues and
new empirical evidence. Journal of Population Economics, 13, 485505.

Task 3: Identify the theoretical models and research hypotheses (questions) used
in 3 (three) of your five articles. State the independent and dependent variables in
your articles; indicate how they are operationalized.
Gustafson, B., & Makonnen, N. (1993). Poverty and remittances in Lesotho. Journal of African
Economies, 2, 4973.
This study looks at the impact of remittances on Lesotho families from workers (mostly miners)
who have migrated to South Africa.
Proposition: Remittances reduce the amount of poverty in families with migrant workers.
Working Hypothesis: In the aggregate, families with migrant workers making remittances have
lower levels of poverty than those who do not.
Null Hypothesis:

In the aggregate, families with migrant workers making remittances have

similar or higher levels of poverty than those who do not.

Dependent variable: Poverty

Operationalization:

Poverty is operationalized by an index that 1) controls for the number of

people in the household and 2) examines the difference between the
households monthly consumption expenditures and the poverty line.

Independent vars:

Remittances

Operationalization:

Amount of money submitted by migrant household members.

Control vars:

Region, source of income, age of Head of Household; sex of HH;

education level of HH; household composition

Operationalization:

Region (Rural-urban; Maseru urban; other urban; rural)

Source of income (subsistence farming; cash cropping/sales of livestock;
business; wages/salaries; remittances; other)
Age of HH (less than 24 years; 25-34; 35-44; 45-54; 55-65; over 65)
Sex of HH (female; male)
Education level of HH (no formal; standard 1-6; standard 7, Form A; Form
B- Form E; Form E completed; higher education)
HH composition (1 adult only; 1 adult, 1-2 children; 1 adult, 3+ children; 2
adults only; 2 adults, 1-2 children; 2 adults, 3+ children; 3 adults only; 3
adults, 1-2 children; 3 adults, 3+ children)

Other two articles . . .

Task 4: find an appropriate data set; identify your variables.

I have found a data set for remittances to Nigerian families at the Word Bank that is available for
download.
Title: Nigeria - Migration Household Survey 2009
Year: 2009
Reference ID or name of dataset: NGA_2009_MRHSS_v01_M
Location for download: http://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/402
Presence of major family assets
IMMOVABLE ASSET
1. Agricultural land
2. Non-agricultural land
3. House
4. Other Buildings

Expenditures on necessities
3.2 How much in total has your household spent on the following items in
the given period?

In the past one week:

Category
1. Food (e.g. grains, cassava, plantain, yam,
pulses, fruits, vegetables, including selfconsumption)
2. Meat (fish, chicken, red meat including selfconsumption)
3. Cooking fuels (e.g. oil)
4. Transportation (e.g. bus/taxi, gasoline)
5. Other (e.g. cigarettes, alcohol, beauty salon)

Presence of family member migrant

1. Yes; 2 No

Amount (In local

currency)

Value of remittances
5.19
In the past 12
months, how many
times has (NAME)
sent money to your
household?

5.20
In the past 12
months, how much
money in total has
(NAME) sent to
your household?

5.21
Does (NAME)
send/bring food
and/or goods to
your household?

1
2

5.22
What is the value of
food and goods that
(NAME) has
sent/brought to your
household in the
past 12 months?
Yes
No

? Q 5.23

Where household spends money sent by former household member

Category
Food
Education
Health
Rent (house,
4
land)
5 Marriage/funeral
6
Cars/trucks
7 Rebuild house
8 Build new house
9
Business
10 Land purchase
11
Other
Total
1
2
3

Task 5: specify the research designs used in 3 of your articles.

Example from:
Gustafson, B., & Makonnen, N. (1993). Poverty and remittances in Lesotho. Journal of African
Economies, 2, 4973.
This study consists of a survey design where a sample of 7,680 households are asked about their
income and expenditure data. Households are also asked how much of their income is
attributable to remittances from family members working elsewhere (usually South Africa).
Families are divided into two groups: Families with remittances as their main source of income
and those without significant remittance income. Consequently, the design is a two-group
comparison that would be similar to a one-way anova.
Subsequently, both groups are subdivided according to other control variables such as family size
and whether the household is male- or female-headed. This would be similar to an N-way anova
design.
Other two articles . . .