title: The impact of remittances on the monetary transmission mechanism in low-income countries

authors: Abdul Raheem, Jahan

subjects: remittances

abstract: This thesis consists of three studies investigating the impact of remittances on monetary transmission mechanisms. The prime objective of this research is to explore how the inflow of remittances affects the different monetary transmission channels in remittance-receiving economies and what other factors influence remittances in altering their effects on monetary transmission mechanisms. The first two studies were undertaken using a panel of 51 remittance-receiving countries, while the third study used Sri Lanka as the location. 

The first study investigates the effects of remittances on bank credit and exchange rate channels, using a panel Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) to investigate how remittances affect these intermediate monetary transmission channels. The estimated impulse responses (IRs) of bank credit and exchange rates to a shock in remittances show a significant variation between countries in responding to a shock in remittances. In the second stage, we regress the IRs of selected horizons on selected economically significant variables to find out what other factors contribute to this variation. The cross-sectional regression suggests that the magnitude of remittances in terms of the remittances-to-GDP ratio affects the exchange rates channel significantly. However, the effect of remittances on bank credit is determined by the level of remittance inflow and the savings-to-GDP ratio. More precisely, remittances significantly affect the bank credit channel in countries where the remittances-to-GDP ratio is higher than five percent of GDP. The overall findings of this study suggest that policymakers, especially in higher remittance-receiving countries, have to pay attention to the role remittances play in weakening the monetary transmission mechanism (MTM). 

The second study investigates how institutions play a role in altering the effects of remittances on the bank credit channel. There are arguments about whether remittances contribute to the expansion of credit in remittance-receiving countries. In this study, we use a panel SVAR model to estimate the IRs of bank credit to a shock in remittances and regress these IRs on a set of institutional and other economically significant variables. The regression results indicate that stronger corruption control and regulatory quality, along with savings-to-GDP and remittances-to-GDP ratios, are associated with credit expansion in response to remittances. This empirical finding indicates that monetary policy measures may have difficulty in achieving their objectives through bank credit in higher remittance-receiving countries, which have a strong corruption control and regulatory quality environment. 

The third study analyses how the effects of remittances vary with regard to bank credit, exchange rates, and asset price channels in the conflict and post-conflict periods in the Sri Lankan economy. We apply a country-specific SVAR model by using the monthly data from 1996 to 2019. The empirical analysis suggests that remittances significantly affect these monetary transmission channels in the post-conflict period, and their effects on bank credit and asset prices are relatively stronger than the exchange rate channel in this period.

text: The impact of remittances on the monetary transmission mechanism in low-income countries This thesis consists of three studies investigating the impact of remittances on monetary transmission mechanisms. The prime objective of this research is to explore how the inflow of remittances affects the different monetary transmission channels in remittance-receiving economies and what other factors influence remittances in altering their effects on monetary transmission mechanisms. The first two studies were undertaken using a panel of 51 remittance-receiving countries, while the third study used Sri Lanka as the location. 

The first study investigates the effects of remittances on bank credit and exchange rate channels, using a panel Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) to investigate how remittances affect these intermediate monetary transmission channels. The estimated impulse responses (IRs) of bank credit and exchange rates to a shock in remittances show a significant variation between countries in responding to a shock in remittances. In the second stage, we regress the IRs of selected horizons on selected economically significant variables to find out what other factors contribute to this variation. The cross-sectional regression suggests that the magnitude of remittances in terms of the remittances-to-GDP ratio affects the exchange rates channel significantly. However, the effect of remittances on bank credit is determined by the level of remittance inflow and the savings-to-GDP ratio. More precisely, remittances significantly affect the bank credit channel in countries where the remittances-to-GDP ratio is higher than five percent of GDP. The overall findings of this study suggest that policymakers, especially in higher remittance-receiving countries, have to pay attention to the role remittances play in weakening the monetary transmission mechanism (MTM). 

The second study investigates how institutions play a role in altering the effects of remittances on the bank credit channel. There are arguments about whether remittances contribute to the expansion of credit in remittance-receiving countries. In this study, we use a panel SVAR model to estimate the IRs of bank credit to a shock in remittances and regress these IRs on a set of institutional and other economically significant variables. The regression results indicate that stronger corruption control and regulatory quality, along with savings-to-GDP and remittances-to-GDP ratios, are associated with credit expansion in response to remittances. This empirical finding indicates that monetary policy measures may have difficulty in achieving their objectives through bank credit in higher remittance-receiving countries, which have a strong corruption control and regulatory quality environment. 

The third study analyses how the effects of remittances vary with regard to bank credit, exchange rates, and asset price channels in the conflict and post-conflict periods in the Sri Lankan economy. We apply a country-specific SVAR model by using the monthly data from 1996 to 2019. The empirical analysis suggests that remittances significantly affect these monetary transmission channels in the post-conflict period, and their effects on bank credit and asset prices are relatively stronger than the exchange rate channel in this period.

year: 2026

title: Postal Reform in Japan: A Comparative New Zealand–Japan Study of Economic Issues in Privatising a Postal System

authors: Duggan, Anthony John

subjects: Institutional change

abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the economic issues in the postal reform experiences of New Zealand and Japan. New Zealand’s reforms were conducted in the 1980s. Its experience raises questions about what factors were important for overcoming resistance to reform. Japan’s case is a current issue, raising questions of how likely privatisation may be, what dilutions may occur, and what might the post-reform organisation look like. 
	This study charts New Zealand’s reform evolution by supplementing the literature with interviews conducted with experts closely tied to the events. Japan’s reform is similarly traced to the present day where a simulation model I have developed proposes final negotiation outcomes. I argue that New Zealand Post’s pre-reform institutional environment was incongruent with efficiency and productivity. Reforms created an entirely new institutional environment based on neoliberal ideologies, separating governance from ownership and disentangling commercial and social objectives. This study shows that resistance was overcome by a culmination of implementation speed, scale of reform, carefully drafted legislation, and managerial acuity. 
	Japan’s pre-reform environment displays a number of parallels to New Zealand’s. However in this case, I argue that prolonged implementation and a greater presence of interest groups hamper reform progress and simulation suggests only a partial reform where legislation maintains entry barriers, favouring Japan Post over private competition. Key reasons in explaining the differences in outcomes between the two countries are argued to be differences in political ideologies and the strength of reform opposition. The separation of governance and ownership for instance, appears to be more distinct in New Zealand than Japan, and whilst the New Zealand model focuses upon shareholder wealth maximisation, the Japanese case appears to place greater emphasis upon stakeholder interests.

text: Postal Reform in Japan: A Comparative New Zealand–Japan Study of Economic Issues in Privatising a Postal System The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the economic issues in the postal reform experiences of New Zealand and Japan. New Zealand’s reforms were conducted in the 1980s. Its experience raises questions about what factors were important for overcoming resistance to reform. Japan’s case is a current issue, raising questions of how likely privatisation may be, what dilutions may occur, and what might the post-reform organisation look like. 
	This study charts New Zealand’s reform evolution by supplementing the literature with interviews conducted with experts closely tied to the events. Japan’s reform is similarly traced to the present day where a simulation model I have developed proposes final negotiation outcomes. I argue that New Zealand Post’s pre-reform institutional environment was incongruent with efficiency and productivity. Reforms created an entirely new institutional environment based on neoliberal ideologies, separating governance from ownership and disentangling commercial and social objectives. This study shows that resistance was overcome by a culmination of implementation speed, scale of reform, carefully drafted legislation, and managerial acuity. 
	Japan’s pre-reform environment displays a number of parallels to New Zealand’s. However in this case, I argue that prolonged implementation and a greater presence of interest groups hamper reform progress and simulation suggests only a partial reform where legislation maintains entry barriers, favouring Japan Post over private competition. Key reasons in explaining the differences in outcomes between the two countries are argued to be differences in political ideologies and the strength of reform opposition. The separation of governance and ownership for instance, appears to be more distinct in New Zealand than Japan, and whilst the New Zealand model focuses upon shareholder wealth maximisation, the Japanese case appears to place greater emphasis upon stakeholder interests.

year: 2017

title: Ki te kapu o takau ringa - In the Hollow of my Hand: Wānanga based Photographic Approaches to Place Representation

authors: Hill, Rodrigo

abstract: Ka matakitaki iho au ki te riu o Waikato
 Ano nei hei kapo kau ake maaku; 
Ki te kapu o taku ringa, 
“I look down on the valley of Waikato, 
As though to hold it  
In the hollow of my hand.
 The words above are from Māori King Tawhiao’s maioha (song poem), a representation of his love for his homelands of the Waikato and the region known today as the King Country. Now imagine a large-scale photograph: a close-up of cupped hands, holding an object carefully. The phrase above informs Professor Tom Roa and Dr. Rodrigo Hill’s current research project titled ‘Te Nehenehenui - The Ancient Enduring Beauty in the Great Forest of the King Country’. With this project still in its early stages the research team will present early and ongoing creative practice developments, discussions and ideas about photography practice, wānanga, and place representation. The project promotes the use of wānanga (forums and meetings of focus groups through which knowledge - mātauranga - is discussed and passed on) and other reflective practices, engaging with and led by mana whenua (guardians of the land) providing a thread which will guide the construction of the photographic images. The research fuses wānanga, that is Mātauranga Māori (Māori Knowledge), and photography practice in novel ways, aiming to move away and challenge core photographic conventions and Eurocentric modes of place representation. Roa and Hill understand wānanga as a fluid practice of engagement which can be with mana whenua or with the taiao - the environment - either by itself or with the mana whenua. This is the essence of Kaupapa Māori Research.

text: Ki te kapu o takau ringa - In the Hollow of my Hand: Wānanga based Photographic Approaches to Place Representation Ka matakitaki iho au ki te riu o Waikato
 Ano nei hei kapo kau ake maaku; 
Ki te kapu o taku ringa, 
“I look down on the valley of Waikato, 
As though to hold it  
In the hollow of my hand.
 The words above are from Māori King Tawhiao’s maioha (song poem), a representation of his love for his homelands of the Waikato and the region known today as the King Country. Now imagine a large-scale photograph: a close-up of cupped hands, holding an object carefully. The phrase above informs Professor Tom Roa and Dr. Rodrigo Hill’s current research project titled ‘Te Nehenehenui - The Ancient Enduring Beauty in the Great Forest of the King Country’. With this project still in its early stages the research team will present early and ongoing creative practice developments, discussions and ideas about photography practice, wānanga, and place representation. The project promotes the use of wānanga (forums and meetings of focus groups through which knowledge - mātauranga - is discussed and passed on) and other reflective practices, engaging with and led by mana whenua (guardians of the land) providing a thread which will guide the construction of the photographic images. The research fuses wānanga, that is Mātauranga Māori (Māori Knowledge), and photography practice in novel ways, aiming to move away and challenge core photographic conventions and Eurocentric modes of place representation. Roa and Hill understand wānanga as a fluid practice of engagement which can be with mana whenua or with the taiao - the environment - either by itself or with the mana whenua. This is the essence of Kaupapa Māori Research.

year: 2023-10-25