Remittances as inequality and consumption smoother?

: evidence from Portugal

Abstract

This thesis proposes to analyse data from a household-level survey on the Portuguese population comprising years 2009 to 2020, as to explore the role that remittances from emigrants might have in reducing income inequality, and in allowing households to maintain a relatively stable level of consumption over time, even when there are fluctuations in income. We conclude that remittances not only play a role in reducing inequality but also, and more surprisingly, have a quantitatively stronger impact on inequality relatively to social transfers, even comparing to those including pensions. By analysing the empirical relations between remittances and consumption we conclude that Portuguese families use remittances to increase both consumption and savings, however the second at a higher degree than the first. There is therefore a consumption smoothing role from remittances for those households.

Date of Award	1 Feb 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Isabel Horta Correia (Supervisor)