Driving Forces of Remittance Inflow in Bangladesh: An Empirical Study

This paper empirically investigates the major driving forces of remittance inflow in Bangladesh. Using annual data over the period from 1977 to 2011 the paper concludes that gross domestic products of host country and domestic country, exchange rate, petroleum price and skill of labour significantly influence remittance inflow in Bangladesh. One finding of the research is that skilled labour force rather sends smaller amount of remittance to the home country than the unskilled labour. This is due to the fact that skilled people do not maintain close tie with the home country because they often take their families with them to foreign countries where they work. Because of narrow opportunities, unskilled labour cannot take their families with them and hence send money to their families. The study also identifies the reason behind migration of manpower from Bangladesh to foreign countries. Presence of surplus labour, slim job opportunity, unfavourable working environment, poor wage rate, inadequate social security and political instability largely induce people to migrate abroad