Time to remit: the effect of remittances on household consumption and dietary diversity in India

	2005		2011–12
	Without remittance	With remittances	Without remittance	With remittances
Household monthly food expenditure (in Rs)	3,296.266 (2,087.07)	3,212.52 (2,037.30)	4,179.17 (2,455.38)	3,816.94 (2,430.49)
HDDS	7.25 (1.67)	7.45 (1.68)	7.25 (1.66)	7.24 (1.56)
Simpson Index	0.84 (0.07)	0.84 (0.07)	0.85 (0.05)	0.85 (0.05)
Shannon Index	2.15 (0.31)	2.15 (0.30)	2.26 (0.25)	2.24 (0.24)
Household total yearly income (in Rs)	88,073.55 (137,881.26)	59065.04 (121,007.67)	139,220.79 (231,057.50)	93116.06 (234,939.80)
Household total yearly consumption (in Rs)	94,157.97 (178380)	109,348.62 (233,595.6)	127,006.89 (127,645.98)	119,839.74 (133,926.63)
Amount of remittances (in Rs)	0.00 (0.00)	33,561.81 (29,429.99)	0.00 (0.00)	48,323.84 (70,908.84)
Meat and eggs expenditure	232.632 (377.197)	218.124 (306.859)	376.186 (504.388)	310.572 (464.956)
Vegetables and fruits expenditure	417.841 (409.864)	395.517 (376.679)	684.783 (542.362)	610.678 (499.544)
Pulses expenditure	164.777 (172.757)	169.184 (184.273)	226.766 (186.105)	211.504 (168.845)
Cereal and cereal products	915.572 (577.961)	914.537 (614.485)	872.316 (554.982)	812.736 (586.939)
Non-cereal total expenditure	2380.694 (1769.853)	2298.089 (1700.029)	3306.857 (2167.823)	3004.212 (2097.036)
Households living in villages experiencing conflict amongst caste3 (in %)	28 (45)	30 (45)	40 (49)	40 (49)
Household size	5.21 (2.47)	4.72 (2.67)	5.07 (2.33)	4.58 (2.75)
No of household members aged 0–14	1.65 (1.56)	1.51 (1.68)	1.32 (1.41)	1.28 (1.60)
No of household members aged 15–19	0.74 (0.97)	0.67 (0.89)	0.63 (0.86)	0.55 (0.81)
No of household members aged more than 19	2.80 (1.37)	2.53 (1.42)	3.11 (1.44)	2.74 (1.48)
Dependency ratio (in %)	55 (59)	59 (84)	41 (50)	43 (65)
Highest male education (in years)	6.93 (5.14)	5.41 (5.49)	7.89 (5.19)	5.67 (5.58)
Highest female education (in years)	4.61 (5.04)	4.89 (5.17)	5.93 (5.36)	5.29 (5.39)
Household owning land (in %)	41 (49)	53 (49)	40 (49)	55 (49)
Household residing in urban area (in %)	36 (48)	25 (43)	39 (49)	25 (43)
Number of rooms in the dwelling	2.51 (1.61)	3.06 (1.98)	2.83 (1.69)	3.21 (1.92)
Caste
Brahmin (in %)	0.05 (0.23)	0.07 (0.25)	0.05 (0.22)	0.07 (0.25)
Forward castes (in %)	0.26 (0.44)	0.28 (0.45)	0.26 (0.43)	0.25 (0.43)
Other backward classes (in %)	0.38 (0.48)	0.42 (0.49)	0.38 (0.48)	0.43 (0.49)
Dalit (in %)	0.20 (0.40)	0.17 (0.38)	0.20 (0.40)	0.18 (0.38)
Scheduled tribes (in %)	0.08 (0.27)	0.04 (0.20)	0.09 (0.28)	0.06 (24)
Number of observations	39,474	2,056	27,990	4,531

Notes: Authors’ elaboration from IHDS 2005 and 2011–12. Standard deviation in parenthesis. Numbers refer to Rs; £1 is equal to Rs 103.45 (July, 2020). Expenditure and income variables are intended to be monthly and yearly, (as indicated) and at the household level.

3 Conflict amongst caste is a dummy variable where 0 means various castes get along well and 1 means there is somewhat or a lot of conflict among castes.

Table 2

IV estimate of the impact of remittances on expenditure on food.

Variables	(1)	(2)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)	(8)
	Food expenditure	Cereal	Non-cereal	Pulses	Meat and eggs	Vegetable and fruits	Non-cereal to cereal
Log of remittance	0.67^*** (0.05)	−0.26^*** (0.06)	0.95^*** (0.06)	1.02^*** (0.11)	2.03^*** (0.20)	1.05^*** (0.13)	5.88^*** (0.48)
Log of Income	0.42^*** (0.09)	0.19 (0.13)	0.47^*** (0.12)	−0.57^*** (0.21)	−0.34 (0.37)	−0.29 (0.24)	1.19 (1.01)
Highest education male	0.07^*** (0.01)	−0.03^*** (0.01)	0.10^*** (0.01)	0.16^*** (0.02)	0.26^*** (0.03)	0.15^*** (0.02)	0.62^*** (0.07)
Highest education female	−0.06^*** (0.01)	0.02^*** (0.01)	−0.08^*** (0.01)	−0.05^*** (0.01)	−0.16^*** (0.02)	−0.05^*** (0.01)	−0.51^*** (0.06)
Land ownership	0.03^*** (0.01)	0.09^*** (0.01)	0.02^** (0.01)	0.02 (0.03)	−0.05 (0.04)	0.12^*** (0.03)	−0.41^*** (0.12)
Urban/rural	−0.68^*** (0.08)	−0.03 (0.11)	−0.87^*** (0.10)	0.04 (0.19)	−1.24^*** (0.32)	0.04 (0.21)	−3.73^*** (0.87)
HH members aged 0–14	0.31^*** (0.02)	0.05^* (0.03)	0.38^*** (0.02)	0.29^*** (0.04)	0.65^*** (0.08)	0.27^*** (0.05)	1.67^*** (0.19)
HH members aged 15–19	0.44^*** (0.03)	0.02 (0.04)	0.56^*** (0.03)	0.66^*** (0.06)	1.20^*** (0.11)	0.65^*** (0.07)	2.68^*** (0.27)
HH members aged>19	0.16^*** (0.03)	0.03 (0.04)	0.21^*** (0.04)	0.56^*** (0.07)	0.72^*** (0.12)	0.54^*** (0.08)	0.89^*** (0.32)
Caste
Brahmin	0.18^*** (0.03)	−0.09^** (0.04)	0.26^*** (0.04)	0.24^*** (0.07)	−0.49^*** (0.14)	0.27^*** (0.08)	2.11^*** (0.35)
Forward Caste	0.12^*** (0.02)	0.00 (0.02)	0.15^*** (0.02)	0.18^*** (0.04)	−0.09 (0.08)	0.17^*** (0.05)	0.84^*** (0.26)
Other backward classes	0.07^*** (0.02)	−0.04^** (0.02)	0.10^*** (0.02)	0.04 (0.04)	−0.10 (0.07)	0.06 (0.05)	0.77^*** (0.25)
Scheduled tribe	0.09^*** (0.03)	−0.05 (0.03)	0.13^*** (0.03)	0.13^* (0.07)	0.33^*** (0.11)	0.13^* (0.08)	0.62 (0.69)
Dalits (reference group)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Constant	1.69^* (0.87)	4.77^*** (1.20)	0.12 (1.08)	6.53^*** (1.99)	1.10 (3.47)	4.58^** (2.20)	−21.93^** (9.41)
R-squared	0.15	0.09	0.13	0.05	0.03	0.07	0.02
Number of observations	73,554	73,554	73,554	73,554	73,554	73,432	73,271

Notes: Authors’ elaboration from IHDS 2005 and 2011–12. Robust standard errors in parentheses.

*** p < 0.01,

** p < 0.05,

* p < 0.1.

Table 3

IV estimate of the impact of remittances on food diversity

Variables	HDDS (1)	Simpson Index (2)	Shannon Index (3)
Log of remittance	0.473^** (0.02)	0.045^*** (0.006)	0.312^*** (0.026)
Log of Income	0.063 (0.04)	0.017^* (0.010)	0.084^* (0.046)
Highest education male	0.00 (0.00)	0.005^*** (0.001)	0.035^*** (0.004)
Highest education female	−0.01^** (0.00)	−0.004^*** (0.001)	−0.027^*** (0.003)
Land ownership	0.02^*** (0.00)	−0.002^* (0.001)	−0.012^** (0.006)
Urban/rural	−0.09^*** (0.04)	−0.047^*** (0.009)	−0.288^*** (0.040)
Household members aged 0–14	0.03^*** (0.01)	0.013^*** (0.002)	0.102^*** (0.010)
Household members aged 15–19	0.03^** (0.01)	0.023^*** (0.004)	0.166^*** (0.015)
Household members aged more than 19	−0.00 (0.01)	0.007^** (0.003)	0.059^*** (0.015)
Caste
Brahmin	−0.02^* (0.01)	0.013^*** (0.003)	0.071^*** (0.015)
Forward Caste	−0.01 (0.01)	0.006^*** (0.002)	0.038^*** (0.010)
Other backward classes	−0.02^*** (0.01)	0.003 (0.002)	0.013 (0.009)
Scheduled tribe	0.01 (0.01)	0.003 (0.004)	0.021 (0.015)
Dalits (reference group)	-	-	-
		0.568^*** (0.095)	0.559 (0.423)
R-Squared		0.015	0.034
Number of observations	61,976	73,554	73,554

Notes: Authors’ elaboration from IHDS 2005 and 2011–12. Robust standard errors in parentheses.

*** p < 0.01,

** p < 0.05,

* p < 0.1.

Table 4

The impact of receiving remittances on food consumption and diversity using propensity score matching (average treatment effect on the treated estimator).

2012					2005
Variable	Food exp	HDDS	Shannon	Simpson	Food exp	HDDS	Shannon	Simpson
Remittances (1 vs 0)	0.084^*** (0.15)	0.193^*** (0.036)	0.010 (0.006)	−0.001 (0.001)	0.068^*** (0.019)	0.234^*** (0.054)	0.001 (0.010)	0.001 (0.02)
Observations	31,671				40,499

Notes: Robust standard errors in parentheses.

*** p < 0.01,

** p < 0.05,

* p < 0.1

Table 5

Fixed effect logit model

	(1)
Variables	Remit (1/0)
Dependency ratio	−0.21^*** (0.08)
Highest education male	−0.11^*** (0.01)
Highest education female	0.13^*** (0.01)
Land ownership	0.03 (0.08)
Urban/rural	1.26^*** (0.24)
No. of household members aged 0–14	−0.71^*** (0.03)
No. of household members aged 15–19	−0.34^*** (0.04)
No. of household members aged more than 19	−0.30^*** (0.04)
Conflict among castes	0.11^** (0.05)
Brahmin	−0.87^*** (0.25)
Upper Caste	−0.46^*** (0.17)
Other backward classes	−0.34^** (0.16)
Scheduled tribe	−0.31 (0.24)
Dalits	-
Number of observations	9330

Notes: Authors’ elaboration from IHDS 2005 and 2011–12. Standard deviation in parenthesis. Standard errors in parentheses.

*** p < 0.01,

** p < 0.05,

* p < 0.1

Table 6

First stage regression of IV model

	(1)	(2)
Variables	Log of Income	Log of Remittance
Parental Education	0.01^*** (0.00)
Conflict amongst castes		0.12^*** (0.03)
Highest education male	0.05^*** (0.00)	−0.12^*** (0.01)
Highest education female	0.03^*** (0.00)	0.10^*** (0.02)
Land ownership	0.03 (0.02)	0.04 (0.06)
Urban/rural	0.67^*** (0.05)	1.03^*** (0.21)
No of household members aged 0–14	0.06^*** (0.01)	−0.60^*** (0.09)
No of household members aged 15–19	−0.09^*** (0.01)	−0.38^*** (0.05)
No of household members aged more than 19	0.30^*** (0.01)	−0.23^*** (0.04)
Caste
Brahmin	−0.05 (0.05)	−0.42^** (0.17)
Upper Caste	−0.01 (0.03)	−0.22^** (0.11)
Other backward classes	−0.03 (0.03)	−0.15 (0.10)
Scheduled tribe	0.05 (0.05)	−0.16 (0.15)
Dalits	-	-
mills	-	0.10 (0.15)
Constant	9.19^*** (0.04)	2.36^*** (0.14)
Number of observations	71,777	73,968
R-squared	0.18	0.05
F-test	549.05	123.29

Notes: Authors’ elaboration from IHDS 2005 and 2011–12. Standard deviation in parenthesis. Standard errors in parentheses.

*** p < 0.01,

** p < 0.05,

* p < 0.1

Table 7

Fixed effect model without IV

	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
Variables	Log of food expenditure	HDDS	Simpson Index	Shannon Index
Log of remittance	0.01^*** (0.00)	−0.002^** (0.001)	0.00^*** (0.00)	0.01^*** (0.00)
Log of income	0.15^*** (0.00)	0.004^* (0.002)	0.01^*** (0.00)	0.05^*** (0.00)
Highest education male	0.01^*** (0.00)	0.002^*** (0.001)	0.00^*** (0.00)	0.00^*** (0.00)
Highest education female	0.01^*** (0.00)	0.001 (0.001)	0.00^*** (0.00)	0.00^*** (0.00)
Land ownership	0.06^*** (0.01)	0.019^** (0.008)	0.00 (0.00)	0.00 (0.01)
Urban/rural	0.10^*** (0.02)	−0.004 (0.021)	−0.00 (0.00)	0.02 (0.01)
No. of household members aged 0–14	0.06^*** (0.00)	0.007^*** (0.002)	−0.00^*** (0.00)	−0.01^*** (0.00)
No. of household members aged 15–19	0.09^*** (0.00)	0.008^*** (0.003)	−0.00 (0.00)	0.00 (0.00)
No. of household members aged more than 19	0.10^*** (0.00)	0.005^* (0.003)	0.00^* (0.00)	0.01^*** (0.00)
Caste
Brahmin	−0.06^** (0.02)	−0.041^** (0.020)	−0.00 (0.00)	−0.04^*** (0.01)
Upper Caste	−0.00 (0.02)	−0.016 (0.013)	−0.00 (0.00)	−0.02^** (0.01)
Other backward classes	−0.02 (0.01)	−0.031^** (0.012)	−0.00^* (0.00)	−0.03^*** (0.01)
Scheduled tribe	0.01 (0.02)	0.004 (0.020)	−0.00 (0.00)	−0.02 (0.01)
Dalits	-		-	-
Constant	5.76^*** (0.03)		0.77^*** (0.00)	1.66^*** (0.02)
Number of observations	72,170	59,584	72,170	72,170
R-squared	0.22		0.03	0.06