  If Tunisia was hailed as a success story with its high rankings on economic,
educational, and other indicators compared to other Arab countries, the 2011
popular uprisings demonstrate the need for political reforms but also major
economic reforms. The Arab spring highlights the fragility of its main economic
pillars including the tourism and the foreign direct investment. In such
turbulent times, the paper examines the economic impact of migrant'
remittances, expected to have a countercyclical behavior. Our results reveal
that prior to the Arab Spring, the impacts of remittances on growth and
consumption seem negative and positive respectively, while they varyingly
influence local investment. These three relationships held in the short-run. By
considering the period surrounding the 2011 uprisings, the investment effect of
remittances becomes negative and weak in the short-and medium-run, whereas
positive and strong remittances' impacts on growth and consumption are found in
the long term.
