The main objective of this paper is to propose a systematic approach to empirically analyse
the effect of remittances on the utility of migrants, as proxied by their subjective well-being
(SWB). Using data from a new survey on China (RUMiC), we estimate models in which a
measure of subjective well- being is regressed on the level of remittances, and we find a
sizeable positive correlation. The effect of remittances on well-being varies with the socioeconomic
characteristics of migrants, migration experience and the diversity of family
arrangements. As a complementary objective, we use SWB measures to elicit the
motivations behind remittances and find evidence that both altruistic (such as pure altruism
and reciprocity) and contractual motivations (such as co-insurance and investment) are at
work among rural-to-urban migrants in China.