Migrant Remittances and Demand for Redistribution

The literature on the political economy of remittances largely agrees that as households receive income from migrants abroad they will be less dependent on government goods and patronage. The underlying assumption is that remittance inflows are stable and increasing. The global economic recession of 2008 and 2009 led to major declines in remittance inflows. This paper asks two different but related questions: (1) Do remittance recipients support redistribution? and (2) Do preferences for redistribution change following a negative shock to remittances? Using three waves of survey data, I find that remittance recipients diverge from non-recipients in favoring redistribution following the sudden decline in remittances. I test for possible mechanisms such as dependence on remittances and relative income levels to explain this change in preferences. I find that remittance recipients who are more dependent on remittances or not inclined to emigrate are more likely to favor redistribution following the negative shock.