The remittance behaviour of African diaspora in Belgium

The Belgium International Remittance Senders Household Survey (IRSHS) is employed to investigate the factors influencing remittance behaviour of the African diaspora in Belgium. The rich information contained in the dataset makes it possible to include both senders' and recipients' characteristics in the empirical model, which is not very common in much of the applied literature on remittances. Different motivations for tranfers seem to coexist: altruistic feelings certainly play an important role but at the same time remittances might be part of an implicit contract between the migrant and the family back home. In particular, the fact that the amount remitted rises with senders' education - even after controlling for migrants' income - may be supportive of the repayment hypothesis.