Determinants of Workers' Remittances : The Case of Turkey

Workers' remittance flows to Turkey have dramatically increased since the 1960s, constituting a significant proportion of imports. The empirical evidence in this paper indicates that black market premium, interest rate differential, inflation rate, growth, home and host country income levels, and periods of military administration in Turkey have significantly affected these flows. Among them, the negatively significant effects of the black market premium, inflation, and a dummy for periods of military administration point at the importance of sound exchange rate policies and economic and political stability in attracting remittance flows. In addition, both investment and consumption-smoothing motives are observed, though the former of which appears more prevalent after the 1980s.