While most economists accept that, in the long run, open economies fare better in aggregate than closed ones, many fear that trade could harm the poor. African countries, for example, have realized significant improvements in trade liberalization in recent decades, yet Africa remains the poorest...

This paper investigates the determinants and the macroeconomic role of remittances in sub-Saharan Africa. It assembles the most comprehensive data set available so far on remittances in the region; it comprises data for 36 countries for 1990 through 2008, and incorporates newly available data on...

Workers’ remittances to developing countries have substantially increased over the past decade, both globally and in sub-Saharan Africa. They have been argued to be shock absorbers, increasing when home economies face economic difficulties and have been shown to alleviate poverty. During...