Do Remittances Help Smooth Consumption During Health Shocks? Evidence From Jamaica

Arbeitspapier

We identify whether remittances facilitate consumption smoothing during health shocks in Jamaica. In addition, we investigate whether remittances are subject to moral hazard by receivers, how the informal insurance provided by remittances interacts with formal health insurance, and whether there are differential effects by gender of the household head. We find that remittances offer complete insurance toward decreased consumption during health shocks and that moral hazard is weak. The role of remittances as a social insurance mechanism, however, is relevant only in the absence of private health insurance. No differential effects by gender of the household head are found.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IDB Working Paper Series ; No. IDB-WP-522

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Remittances ; Health Insurance, Public and Private ; Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
• Subject: consumption smoothing ; Jamaica ; remittances ; health shocks

Contributors, Location and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Beuermann, Diether W. ; Ruprah, Inder S. ; Sierra, Ricardo E.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
• (where): Washington, DC
• (when): 2014

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/115482
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET