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We exploit the size of the 2010 Ecuadorian Census to estimate the effect of remittances on secondary school enrollment across four key dimensions: gender, household wealth, rural vs. urban, and family migration status. Using a bivariate probit model that accounts for both endogeneity and non-linearity issues, we find both positive and negative effects of remittances on the likelihood of schooling. The strongest positive effects are for poorer, urban males, while the negative effects are for rural females. For children in wealthier households, the effects of remittances are either negative or non-significant. This suggests that the positive income effects of remittances may be offset by the negative effects of a missing parent due to migration, more visible in wealthier families where financial constraints may not be as binding. We find further support for this by estimating the effects of remittances conditional on migration status. Our results show positive effects on schooling for non-migrant households that receive remittances and no effects for children living in households where at least one parent has migrated. The sharp contrasts within and across groups, while using the same data and econometric specifications, help explain the lack of consensus in the literature.

This paper studies the effect of electricity on income, using the Nepal Living Standards Survey-III (NLSSIII), carried out in the years 2010-11. To account for endogeneity issues, we use Three Stage Least Squares (3SLS), and Two Stage Probit Least Squares (2SPLS) models. We find that causality runs both ways. That is, income explains whether a household is connected to electricity, but also, a household being connected to electricity has a very large and significant effect on income. A household being connected to electricity increases consumption per capita by 18% on average.

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