Title: Are foreign aid and migrant remittances sources of happiness in recipient countries?

Authors: B. Mak Arvin; Byron Lew

Addresses: Department of Economics, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 7B8, Canada. ' Department of Economics, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 7B8, Canada

Abstract: There is a dearth of research on how foreign aid and migrant remittances influence the level of happiness in recipient countries. This paper fills this void by presenting an empirical model where aid and remittances enter the happiness production function of a recipient country. We find that both aid and remittances are possible ingredients in the complex process of generating happiness and that their interactions, which have been ignored by previous studies in development economics, cannot be dismissed. A clear policy implication of our results is that remittances should be encouraged.

Keywords: happiness levels; foreign aid; aid flows; migrant remittances; remittance flows; recipient countries; production functions; development economics; complex interactions; public policy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPP.2011.043557

International Journal of Public Policy, 2011 Vol.7 No.4/5/6, pp.282 - 300

Received: 18 Nov 2010
Accepted: 25 Mar 2011
Published online: 14 Jan 2015 *

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