Interplay of poverty, remittances and human capital development: Panel evidence from selected Sub-Saharan African countries

The positive effects of remittances on various macroeconomic indicators have been documented in literature. While a few studies investigated these effects on poverty alleviation, a few others have focused on access to technology and education. However, most of the studies deploy single indicator, while a few others concentrated on specific countries. This study improves on literature by deploying composite index, to examine the effects of remittances on human capital development in selected 18 African countries. The study found that remittances improve the joint measures of human capital development, and its effects on access to education were meaningful. The study thus suggests optimal utilisation of remittances and fiscal stabilisation to leverage the effects of remittances in improving quality of lives in the recipient countries.

Automated summary

Previous studies mainly focused on the effects of remittances on specific countries or single indicators, while this study used a composite index to examine human capital development in African countries. The results showed that remittances have a positive impact on human capital development and meaningful effects on access to education.