Abstract (EN)

The objective of the paper is to analyze the respective impact of aid and remittances onhuman development as measured by infant and child mortality rates and stunting incidence.Panel data on a sample of 98 developing countries, and cross-country quintile-level data on asample of 47 developing countries are alternatively used. In addition to assessing the extentto which health aid and remittances contribute to reduce child health disparities betweencountries, the paper addresses two other questions. What is the net effect of migration whenthe brain drain of health workers is accounted for? What is the effective impact of aid andremittances on intra-country child health disparities? Our results suggest that bothremittances and health aid significantly improve child health outcomes. The impact of healthaid is non-linear, though, suggesting that aid to the health sector is more effective in thepoorest countries. By contrast, medical brain drain, as measured by the expatriation rate ofphysicians, is found to have a harmful impact on health outcomes. The net impact ofmigration on human development is therefore mitigated. Medical brain drain is also found toreduce the effectiveness of health aid. Last, remittances seem to be much more effective in improving health outcomes for children belonging to the richest households, whereas neither pro-poor nor anti-poor effect is found for health aid.