Factors Impacting Remittances by Skilled Ghanaians Abroad

AbstractA recent body of thought has arisen contending that skilled migration can have a net positive benefit for sending countries. The main underlying argument concerns the remittances that skilled migrants send back home. Using skilled Ghanaian migrants abroad, in this study we examine the factors that impact remittances. We drew our sample from Ghanaian professional groups on social networking sites (SNSs) – Facebook and LinkedIn – supplemented by an offline sample. Our results indicate that remittances by skilled Ghanaian migrants increase as the migrant's household income increases and decrease as the time spent abroad by the skilled migrant increases. Additionally, as the level of educational attainment of the skilled migrant increases, the level of remittances decreases. Finally, the reason for remitting impacts the level of remittances. Specifically, remittances to support family in need and to finance building and investment projects positively impact the level of remittances. In conclusion, we observe that when skilled migrants have a greater attachment to their host countries, they tend to remit less. Likewise, when skilled migrants have a greater attachment to their home countries, they tend to remit more.