Essays On The Economics Of Remittances And Migration

International migration is a growing phenomenon both in scope and complexity. Today, almost 3.5% of the world's population, or 250 million people, live outside their country of birth. Yet, the macroeconomic consequences of migration are not well understood. On the one hand, migration drains the home country of its human capital, thus reducing its productivity and tax base. In terms of host country effects, migration is often associated with negative labor market outcomes, including unfavorable effects on wages and employment. On the other hand, migrants tend to stay connected with their home country by sending back remittances, re-migrating after receiving an education abroad, or sharing information through networks. In host countries, migrants can both stimulate demand, and increase productivity. Abstract This dissertation contributes to the understanding of the macroeconomic consequences of migration for home and host economies. In particular, Chapter 2 establishes a link between migration and technology diffusion using a panel data set of 30 developed and 88 developing countries for the period 1980 - 2000. Then, Chapter 3 utilizes an open economy DSGE model with heterogeneous households to examine two important channels which influence the dynamic absorption of remittances: (i) the presence of borrowing constraints, and (ii) the distribution of remittances across recipient households. Finally, in Chapter 4, I study the design and impact of optimal government policies on growth and welfare when (i) refugees are sub-optimally distributed across countries and (ii) the presence of refugees causes congestion externalities for public services. The analysis contained in Chapters 2-4 gives new insights in several migration related spillovers, namely technology diffusion, remittances, and public goods congestion, yet emphasizes the complexity between migration and economic growth and development.