Disentangling the Relationship Between Remittances and Peace

This study explores the relationship between remittances and peacebuilding. My hypothesis is that there is a statistically significant relationship between remittances and peace levels. I employ four multivariate regression models which control for social, economic, and political factors for countries over a given period. The results indicate that remittances have a statistically significant relationship with peacebuilding. I find that higher remittances as a percentage of GDP are linked to lower peace levels. Additionally, lower average transaction costs for migrants remitting back to their nations of origin are linked to lower levels of peace. The study also finds that the highest remittance receiving nations have a strong correlation with the lowest levels of peace. I identify the possible mechanisms for this relationship as being a combination of migrants having greater propensity to sustain the livelihoods of their families in areas of conflict and the lack of regulation leading to lower transaction fees in nations of conflict.