Gender, Migrant Remittances and Asset Acquisition in Ghana

Abstract

The growing importance of migrant remittances has been the subject of many studies in recent decades. The remittance literature has however not addressed extensively the role of remittances in the accumulation of assets by members of remittance-receiving households. In this paper, we analyze the extent to which households in Ghana use migrant remittances – sent from former household members – to finance the purchase of assets, using data from the 2010 Ghana Household Asset Survey (GHAS). The paper also explores the interplay of gender, migrant's location, and the use of migrant remittances to acquire specific asset types. The study's findings suggest that the three asset types most likely to be acquired using migrant remittances are savings, the place of residence, and businesses. The findings further suggest that the use of migrant remittances to finance specific asset types is linked to the sex of the remitter, as well as the location – internal versus international – of the migrant