Research

The Drivers of Diaspora Donations for Development: Evidence from the Philippines

Victoria Licuanan, Toman Barsbai and Andreas Steinmayr

World Development, 2015, 65: 94–109

Article
Stacked bar chart: value of donations by Filipino migrants for health, education and other purposes, 1990–2010.
Value of migrant donations by purpose, 1990–2010, in constant 2010 US$ (Figure 1). Licuanan, Omar Mahmoud and Steinmayr (2015), World Development, Figure 1.

Abstract

Using administrative data on donations channeled through the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, this paper explores which host and home country factors are associated with donations made by permanent migrants to the Philippines. On the host country side, donations increase with the income level of Filipinos and with the number of hate crimes against minorities. On the home country side, donations are not well-targeted. As donations mainly flow to provinces with high emigration rates, they do not reach less developed Philippine provinces. However, the diaspora is responsive to natural disasters and channels donations to provinces when they are hit by a typhoon.

Cite (BibTeX)
@article{Licuanan2015drivers,
  author      = {Licuanan, Victoria and {Omar Mahmoud}, Toman and Steinmayr, Andreas},
  title       = {{The Drivers of Diaspora Donations for Development: Evidence from the Philippines}},
  journal     = {World Development},
  year        = {2015},
  volume      = {65},
  pages       = {94--109},
  doi         = {10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.05.010}
}

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Earlier versions

  • Kiel Working Paper No. 1807 (2012)