Copyright (c) 2026 Iftikharullah Fakhar, Mohammad Talha Siddiqui, Abdullah Faizi

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Effects of Remittances on Household Welfare: An Econometrics Analysis from Kunar Province, Afghanistan
Corresponding Author(s) : Iftikharullah Fakhar
Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities,
Vol. 3 No. 2 (2026): April
Abstract
This study evaluates the effect of remittances on household welfare in Kunar province using primary cross-sectional data from 336 households receiving remittances. A composite index, including normalized income, healthcare access, education access, and standard of living, is developed to compute household welfare. The study employed Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Logistic Regression (Logit) models to assess the impact of remittances on aggregate welfare and its constituent elements. The Ordinary Least Squares results indicate that household welfare is significantly and positively affected by remittances, access to healthcare, and employment status. The Logit model shows that remittances significantly affect access to healthcare and the standard of living, but not access to education. In addition, remittances were found to be the key determinants of household income, underscoring the vital role of livelihood sustainability amid limited employment opportunities. The study contributes to the limited empirical literature in this context by presenting the econometric analysis and developing a composite index of household welfare. The findings reveal the vital role of remittances as the most important and stabilizing source of household income in an environment characterized by low levels of employment opportunities, weak economic conditions, and long-term social and political instability. The study concludes that remittances remain an important socio-economic survival tool for Kunar province and recommends policies to best utilize remittances to ensure more sustainable welfare improvements.
Keywords
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)BibTeX
- Adams, R. H., & Page, J. (2005). Do international migration and remittances reduce poverty in developing countries? World Development.
- Ahmad, M., & Sugiyarto, G. (2010). Impact of international migration and remittances on household welfare in Pakistan (ADB Economics Working Paper No. 194). Asian Development Bank. https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/28428/economics-wp194.pdf
- Ajaero, C. K., Odimegwu, C. O., Adeniyi, D. O., & Tanaka, Y. (2017). International migration, remittances, and household welfare in Nigeria. Migration and Development, 6(2), 225–242. https://doi.org/10.1080/21632324.2016.1142755
- Arif, I., Raza, S. A., Friemann, A., et al. (2019). The role of remittances in the development of higher education: Evidence from top remittance receiving countries. Social Indicators Research, 141, 1233–1243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-018-1857-8
- Barlas, A. W., Elo, M., & Chand, M. (2025). Impact of remittances from the Afghan diaspora: A case study on the effects in Samangan province. South Asian Journal of Business Studies, 14(2), 237–253. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAJBS-02-2024-0082
- Breusch, T. S., & Pagan, A. R. (1979). A simple test for heteroscedasticity and random coefficient variation. Econometrica, 47(5), 1287–1294. https://doi.org/10.2307/1911963
- Bryman, A. (2012). Social research methods (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
- Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). Sage Publications.
- Cuong, N. V. (2008). Impact of remittances on household welfare in Vietnam (MPIA Working Paper No. 2008-17). Poverty and Economic Policy (PEP) Research Network. https://www.pep-net.org/sites/pep-net.org/files/typo3doc/pdf/files_events/2008_Lima_Conference/cbnv_wp.pdf
- Fakhar, I. (2022). Evaluation of the major growth factors of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Afghanistan. International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology, 9(1), 1762–1773. https://ijirt.org/publishedpaper/IJIRT155779_PAPER.pdf
- Gujarati, D. N., & Porter, D. C. (2009). Basic econometrics (5th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
- Gyimah-Brempong, K., & Asiedu, E. (2014). Remittances and investment in education: Evidence from Ghana. The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, 24(2), 173–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638199.2014.881907
- Hosmer, D. W., Lemeshow, S., & Sturdivant, R. X. (2013). Applied logistic regression (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118548387
- International Organization for Migration. (2023). Remittances. https://www.iom.int/remittances
- Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30(3), 607–610. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316447003000308
- Kutner, M. H., Nachtsheim, C. J., & Neter, J. (2004). Applied linear regression models (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill Irwin.
- Mohammed, M., Obumneke, E., & Aigbedion, M. (2025). Effect of remittance inflow on household consumption expenditure in Nigeria. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5261725
- National Statistics and Information Authority. (2023). Afghanistan Statistical Yearbook 2023. https://www.nsia.gov.af
- OECD. (2008). Handbook on constructing composite indicators: Methodology and user guide. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- Ponce, J., Olivié, I., & Onofa, M. (2018). The role of international remittances in health outcomes in Ecuador: Prevention and response to shocks. International Migration Review, 45(3), 727–745. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2011.00864.x
- Quartey, P. (2006). The impact of migrant remittances on household welfare in Ghana (AERC Research Paper No. 158). African Economic Research Consortium. https://aercafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/RP158.pdf
- Ratha, D. (2007). Leveraging remittances for development. World Bank.
- Ramsey, J. B. (1969). Tests for specification errors in classical linear least squares regression analysis. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B (Methodological), 31(2), 350–371.
- Selim, R., Zaman, H., & Anwar, S. (2009). The impact of international remittances on poverty and household expenditure in Bangladesh: A computable general equilibrium and micro-econometric analysis. Bangladesh Bank Working Paper Series (No. 0908). https://www.bb.org.bd/pub/research/policypaper/pp0908.pdf
- Sen, A. (1999). Development as freedom. Oxford University Press.
- StataCorp. (2021). Stata statistical software: Release 17. StataCorp LLC.
- UNHCR. (2023). Afghanistan situation reports.
- World Bank. (2023). Migration and development brief.
- Zhunio, M. C., Vishwasrao, S., & Chiang, E. P. (2011). The influence of remittances on education and health outcomes: A cross-country study. Applied Economics, 44(35), 4605–4616. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2011.593499
References
Adams, R. H., & Page, J. (2005). Do international migration and remittances reduce poverty in developing countries? World Development.
Ahmad, M., & Sugiyarto, G. (2010). Impact of international migration and remittances on household welfare in Pakistan (ADB Economics Working Paper No. 194). Asian Development Bank. https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/28428/economics-wp194.pdf
Ajaero, C. K., Odimegwu, C. O., Adeniyi, D. O., & Tanaka, Y. (2017). International migration, remittances, and household welfare in Nigeria. Migration and Development, 6(2), 225–242. https://doi.org/10.1080/21632324.2016.1142755
Arif, I., Raza, S. A., Friemann, A., et al. (2019). The role of remittances in the development of higher education: Evidence from top remittance receiving countries. Social Indicators Research, 141, 1233–1243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-018-1857-8
Barlas, A. W., Elo, M., & Chand, M. (2025). Impact of remittances from the Afghan diaspora: A case study on the effects in Samangan province. South Asian Journal of Business Studies, 14(2), 237–253. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAJBS-02-2024-0082
Breusch, T. S., & Pagan, A. R. (1979). A simple test for heteroscedasticity and random coefficient variation. Econometrica, 47(5), 1287–1294. https://doi.org/10.2307/1911963
Bryman, A. (2012). Social research methods (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). Sage Publications.
Cuong, N. V. (2008). Impact of remittances on household welfare in Vietnam (MPIA Working Paper No. 2008-17). Poverty and Economic Policy (PEP) Research Network. https://www.pep-net.org/sites/pep-net.org/files/typo3doc/pdf/files_events/2008_Lima_Conference/cbnv_wp.pdf
Fakhar, I. (2022). Evaluation of the major growth factors of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Afghanistan. International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology, 9(1), 1762–1773. https://ijirt.org/publishedpaper/IJIRT155779_PAPER.pdf
Gujarati, D. N., & Porter, D. C. (2009). Basic econometrics (5th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Gyimah-Brempong, K., & Asiedu, E. (2014). Remittances and investment in education: Evidence from Ghana. The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, 24(2), 173–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638199.2014.881907
Hosmer, D. W., Lemeshow, S., & Sturdivant, R. X. (2013). Applied logistic regression (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118548387
International Organization for Migration. (2023). Remittances. https://www.iom.int/remittances
Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30(3), 607–610. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316447003000308
Kutner, M. H., Nachtsheim, C. J., & Neter, J. (2004). Applied linear regression models (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Mohammed, M., Obumneke, E., & Aigbedion, M. (2025). Effect of remittance inflow on household consumption expenditure in Nigeria. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5261725
National Statistics and Information Authority. (2023). Afghanistan Statistical Yearbook 2023. https://www.nsia.gov.af
OECD. (2008). Handbook on constructing composite indicators: Methodology and user guide. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Ponce, J., Olivié, I., & Onofa, M. (2018). The role of international remittances in health outcomes in Ecuador: Prevention and response to shocks. International Migration Review, 45(3), 727–745. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2011.00864.x
Quartey, P. (2006). The impact of migrant remittances on household welfare in Ghana (AERC Research Paper No. 158). African Economic Research Consortium. https://aercafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/RP158.pdf
Ratha, D. (2007). Leveraging remittances for development. World Bank.
Ramsey, J. B. (1969). Tests for specification errors in classical linear least squares regression analysis. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B (Methodological), 31(2), 350–371.
Selim, R., Zaman, H., & Anwar, S. (2009). The impact of international remittances on poverty and household expenditure in Bangladesh: A computable general equilibrium and micro-econometric analysis. Bangladesh Bank Working Paper Series (No. 0908). https://www.bb.org.bd/pub/research/policypaper/pp0908.pdf
Sen, A. (1999). Development as freedom. Oxford University Press.
StataCorp. (2021). Stata statistical software: Release 17. StataCorp LLC.
UNHCR. (2023). Afghanistan situation reports.
World Bank. (2023). Migration and development brief.
Zhunio, M. C., Vishwasrao, S., & Chiang, E. P. (2011). The influence of remittances on education and health outcomes: A cross-country study. Applied Economics, 44(35), 4605–4616. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2011.593499
Accepted 2026-04-28
Published 2026-04-30