Increasing the Development Impact of Migrant Remittances: A Field Experiment on Educational Finance by Migrant Workers

The study will focus on Overseas Filipino Workers in Rome, Italy, and will use a randomized controlled trial (RCT) methodology. A sample of 700 Filipino migrants will be screened, yielding an experimental sample of 350. The project will be implemented in collaboration with the University of Michigan, Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), and the Fund for Assistance to Private Education (FAPE). The research team comprises four principal investigators: Giuseppe de Arcangelis, David McKenzie, Erwin Tiongson, and Dean Yang. Majlinda Joxhe will serve as the Rome project associate, while Froland Tajale will serve as the Philippine project associate. The study design involves recruiting migrants to take part in the study at various locations around Rome, Italy, beginning in May 2012. Interviews will continue through December 2012. The project will also involve the creation of a project protocol manual, which will cover topics such as the detailed design of the EduPay product, the details of randomized interventions to be implemented, and the division of responsibility across the research team and partner institutions. The EduPay product is designed to provide migrant workers with a better ability to control the use of remittances for education. The product will be implemented in collaboration with BPI and FAPE, and will involve the creation of a system to collect student information and handle remittance funds transfers. The project will also involve the administration of baseline surveys and interventions among Filipino migrants in Italy, as well as the implementation of the EduPay facility for study participants who take up the product. The project timeline spans from March 1, 2012, to March 30, 2013, and involves several key milestones and deliverables. The first key activity during the reporting period (April 1 to 30, 2012) involved the University of Michigan executing a subcontract with IPA for implementation of fieldwork. The principal investigators conducted a comprehensive search and selected a highly-qualified individual, Majlinda Joxhe, as IPA's Project Associate who will be in charge of the day-to-day fieldwork operations. The project will also involve the creation of a study design and project protocol manual, which will cover topics such as the detailed design of the EduPay product, the details of randomized interventions to be implemented, and the division of responsibility across the research team and partner institutions. The manual will also cover topics such as recruitment, Rome baseline survey, treatment, randomization processes and treatment protocols, Philippines baseline survey, FAPE-administration of channeling the funds and grades collection, data sharing, and confidentiality. The project will be implemented in several stages, with the first stage involving the pilot testing of the EduPay product and the administration of baseline surveys and interventions among Filipino migrants in Italy. The second stage will involve the evaluation of the facility with a larger sample size, and will involve the administration of follow-up surveys of migrants and Philippine households to comprehensively measure impacts on outcomes in the migrant's origin household. The project will also involve the analysis of take-up and impacts on remittance flows using administrative data, and will produce a final report with a final dataset, including baseline and administrative data. The project will be implemented in collaboration with several partner institutions, including BPI, FAPE, and IPA, and will involve the creation of a system to collect student information and handle remittance funds transfers.