Smooth operator: remittances and household consumption during fiscal shocks

With 250 million migrants globally, remittances are one of the major sources of income in many developing countries. While there is abundant evidence that remittances facilitate consumption smoothing, the literature has not considered whether this effect varies with the fiscal stance and during fiscal shocks. Our focus is therefore on whether the consumption-smoothing effect changes with fiscal policy phases and whether remittances and government support are substitutes or complements in stabilizing household consumption. We take a holistic approach to investigating this relationship combining cross-country and household-level analysis. We find that remittances help smooth consumption, and hence improve welfare, more during fiscal consolidation episodes, while this impact is insignificant during fiscal expansions. The results also indicate that the effect is more pronounced in countries with greater reliance on remittances.

A Smooth Operator

This article focuses on various features and advantages of the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR), a robot being developed to perform tissue surgeries. Scientists believe that by embedding the knowledge of the best surgeons in digital systems, autonomous and semiautonomous robots could deliver universal access to the best surgical techniques. An autonomous robot must not only manipulate a needle and thread, but also follow—and react to—the shifting shapes that it creates in real time. STAR started its surgical career by working on rubbery pads with small protrusions. Surgeons use them to learn to stitch together wounds or tissues. The STAR research team plans to integrate additional sensors onto their robot to give surgeons better surgical information. Using a combination of force sensors and sophisticated multispectral cameras that see more than visible light, future robots might advise surgeons about tissue health, thickness, strength, and blood circulation. This would quantify knowledge that surgeons now learn only through experience.