This paper examines the impact of male migration on the labor force participation of the women left behind in Tajikistan. Studies from many countries show that when men migrate, female labor force participation decreases and this is largely explained by the income effect from remittances. Our study challenges this finding. Using panel data from 2007, 2009, and 2011, we find that, in Tajikistan, migration has no significant effect on the number of hours that women work. Because we use panel data, rather than the cross-sectional data used by others, our results are more robust. We propose several countervailing factors that may have neutralized the income effect, such as the need to substitute for the missing labor in the household. We also find that women work more when the household has a farm, regardless of the presence of a migrant in the household.

This paper analyzes the effect of lifting primary school fees on educational attainment in Uganda. After the abolishment of school fees in 1997, the enrollment rate more than doubled. Two decades later, we know little about the effect of the policy on educational attainment. With recent data on eight cohorts exposed to free education, we analyze the impact of the policy on years of completed primary school, completion of primary school, and transitioning to secondary school. We use a straightforward regression analysis with cohort dummies and household fixed effects to control for unobserved heterogeneity. We find that lifting school fees had no effect on the years of primary school achievement and the likelihood of primary school completion. We find some weak evidence that the likelihood of those who completed primary education to start secondary school increased after Universal Primary Education.

This article investigates the impact of international remittances on health outcomes. While the existing literature finds that remittances increase healthcare expenditure, expenditure alone is an incomplete proxy for health outcomes. Consequently, this article explores the impact of remittances on proxies for health outcomes beyond expenditure and for all household members (adults and children). It uses an instrumental variable approach to control for the endogeneity of remittances and finds a mostly positive relationship between remittances and health outcomes. This article also explores several possible transmission channels for how remittances affect health, finding that remittances have a positive and significant effect on household members’ likelihood of seeking direct medical care. It confirms remittances’ positive role in improving the welfare of the receivers and emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between remittances and other income sources in terms of their effects on development. JEL Classification: I15, F22, R23

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Stephan Klasen, one of the world's leading development economists, passed away on October 27, 2020. We reflect on his life's work as an exemplary scholar, his relentless quest to improve development policy, and his legacy as a mentor and source of inspiration to his students.