Impact of Migration and Remittances on Enrolment in Higher Education Institutions, Kyrgyzstan Case

Abstract

This paper focuses on finding the relationship between migration, international remittances and enrolment of children in higher education institutions, in Kyrgyzstan. In addition, the research studies the effects of other individual and household characteristics on the enrolment. Some of them include: age of the household head, real income per person, marital status of the respondents. First, it was expected that money transfers have strong positive effect on the enrolment. However, after running the regression it was found that it's not true for all the regions and not the same for boys and girls. The research uses four waves of Kyrgyz Household Integrated Survey data for the time period from 2005-2008. The survey has certain limitations, however is still good and comprehensive source of information about Kyrgyz households. Obtained results show that culture plays important role in Kyrgyz households' decisions on investment in higher education of their children.