Inducing Development: Social Remittances and the Expansion of Oil Palm

This paper investigates the relationship between social remittances and land‐use change in the context of South–South migration. Focusing on the cyclical movement of Filipino oil palm workers between the Philippine province of Palawan and the Malaysian State of Sabah, we show how migrants transmit social remittances, such as ideas of prosperity associated with oil palm development and knowledge of production practices and land impacts of oil palm plantations. These social remittances affect farmers’ decisions to engage in oil palm development within the migrants’ home province, possibly transforming subsistence agricultural systems into large‐scale, monocrop plantations. We argue that such land development outcomes are an understudied aspect of how migration affects developing countries, especially in the context of South–South migration. Research findings also suggest how migrants’ social remittances are transmitted, diffused, and utilized at broader social and political units, beyond return migrants’ households and immediate communities in Palawan. Decision outcomes, however, are variable, with households and communities either engaging in or opposing oil palm development, depending on how social remittances are interpreted.     

Invisible Development? Remittances for Housing and Transnational Reproduction Strategies among Migrant Households in Colombia

In recent years, the Colombian government has embraced the migration‐development agenda by designing programmes to channel remittances to key sectors such as housing and finance,in an attempt to institutionalise migrant households’ transnational economic practices. However, little is known about migrant households’ multifaceted transnational practices, their broader impact on households’ and localities’ socioeconomic development and migrants’ engagement with these migration‐for‐development programmes. Drawing on qualitative data collected along the Colombia‐UK migration network, this paper contrasts the narrow interpretation of development that underpins the migration‐development agenda, as exemplified by the remittances‐for‐housing programmes implemented in Colombia, with the more nuanced social and economic contributions that remittance‐financed housing investments have for migrant households’ and communities’ socioeconomic development. Thus, it provides a more nuanced interpretation of development to account for the often invisible, socioeconomic spinoffs that occur in the process of migrant households’ attempts to produce and reproduce their livelihoods transnationally.     

International Migration and the Demographic Transition: A Two‐Way Interaction

The paper explores the relationship between the demographic transition and international migration, that is, between population dynamics and direct connectivity between peoples. The first part examines how ideas conveyed by migrants to non‐migrants of their community of origin are susceptible to impact on practices that lead to the reduction of birth rates in source countries of migration and concludes that international migration may be one of the mechanisms through which demographic transition is disseminated. The second part shows that declining birth rates in origin countries generate a new profile of the migrant and suggests that future migrants will typically leave no spouses or children in the home country and therefore their objective will no longer be to improve the family’s standing at home for the mere reason that there is no longer such a family, but to increase opportunities for themselves. Migration policies of origin countries on remittances as well as those of destination countries on family reunification will have to be reconsidered.     

The new economics of labour migration and the role of remittances in the migration process

This analysis considers international migration remittances and their impact on development in migrant-sending areas. The new economics of labor migration (NELM) posit that remittances lessen production and market constraints faced by households in poor developing countries. The article states that remittances may be a positive factor in economic development, which should be nurtured by economic policies. The impact of remittances and migration on development varies across locales and is influenced by migrants' remittance behavior and by economic contexts. Criteria for measuring development gains may include assessments of income growth, inequity, and poverty alleviation. It is hard to gauge the level of remittances, especially when remittances may not flow through formal banking systems. The International Monetary Fund distinguishes between worker remittances sent home for over 1 year; employee compensation including the value of in-kind benefits for under 1 year; and the net worth of migrants who move between countries. This sum amounted to under $2 billion in 1970 and $70 billion in 1995. The cumulative sum of remittances, employee compensation, and transfers was almost $1 trillion, of which almost 66% was worker remittances, 25% was employee compensation, and almost 10% was transfers during 1980-95. Total world remittances surpass overseas development assistance. Remittances are unequally distributed across and between countries. Migration research does not adequately reveal the range and complexity of impacts. Push factors can limit options for use of remittances to stimulate development.     

Can Migration Foster Development in Mexico? The Case of Poverty and Inequality

The impact of migration on development can be analysed from a number of perspectives. This article focuses on poverty and inequality. It assesses the relative contribution of migrants to Mexico′s economy through remittances, compared to other Latin American countries; analyses the distributional impact of remittances (with an emphasis on the poor), and compares this impact to the counterfactual impact of migrants’ stay‐at‐home income. It explains the processes leading to scant economic success rates among poor international migrants. Finally, it describes the nature and impact of current Mexican migrant‐oriented policies, and recommends a shift in focus, to lessen emigration, increase the income of migrants, promote returns, and bolster the economic impact of returning migrants.     

Migration,development and remittances in rural Mexico

The argument is that remittances to Mexico from migrants in the US contribute to household prosperity and lessen the balance of payments problem. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the incentives and constraints to development and individual economic well-being in rural Mexico. Examination is made of the financial amount of remittances, the use of remittances, the impact on development of remittances, models of migration, and migration historically. The viewpoint is that migration satisfies labor needs in developed countries to the detriment of underdeveloped countries. $2 billion a year are sent by illegal migrants from the US to Mexico. This sum is 4 times the net earning of Mexico's tourist trade. 21.1% of the Mexican population depend in part on money sent from the US. 79% of illegal migrants remitted money to relatives in Jalisco state. 70% of migrant families receive $170/month. In Guadalupe, 73% of families depended on migrant income. In Villa Guerrero, 50% of households depended on migrant income. Migrant income supported 1 out of 5 households in Mexico. Money is usually spent of household subsistence items. Sometimes money is also spent on community religious festivals, marriage ceremonies, and education of children or improved living conditions. Examples are given of money being used for investment in land and livestock. Migration affects community solidarity, and comparative ethic, and the influence on others to migrate. Employment opportunities are not expanded and cottage and community industries are threatened. Land purchases did not result in land improvements. Migration models are deficient. There is a macro/micro dichotomy. The push-and-pull system is not controllable by individual migrants. The migration remittance model is a product of unequal development and a mechanism feeding migration. Mexican migration has occurred since the 1880's; seasonal migration was encouraged. There was coercion to return to Mexico after the economic recession of World War I; the door was firmly closely during the Great Depression of 1929-35. The 1980 estimates of illegal Mexican migrants totaled 2-9 million, which is the largest flow in the world. US industrial presence and Mexican development have reinforced migration flows. Regional and international capitalist requirements govern migration.     

The impact of migrants' remittances on the Egyptian economy

"The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the impact of the large remittances made by Egyptian migrants to their home country on the Egyptian economy. In order to study this impact, we use the implications of the standard Keynesian model. We estimated the structural equations of the model using annual data for the Egyptian economy over the period from 1970 to 1984.... The results suggest that remittances have had a strong positive impact on GNP in Egypt." The authors note that remittances especially affect private consumption spending. Policy implications concerning labor migration are discussed. (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)     

The Migration–Development Nexus: Sri Lanka Case Study

This paper explores the relationship between migration and development in Sri Lanka, a country that has been the source of large numbers of migrants and the recipient of much development assistance. Commissioned as part of a wider study conducted by the Centre for Development Research, Denmark, this case study seeks to answer a set of specific questions about the nature and extent of links between development assistance and migration flows. The paper surveys the socio–economic context in which both migration and development have taken place in Sri Lanka, describing the causes, scale, and features of migration flows from Sri Lanka in recent decades. Two main streams of migration flows are identified: labour migration and political migration. The flows are distinguished by ethnic characteristics (the former is mostly Sinhalese and the latter pre–dominantly Tamil) and destination (the former to the Middle East and the latter to the West). Both flows have intensified during a time of protracted conflict and in the context of waraffected economic development since the early 1980s.
The importance of remittances from migrants to the Sri Lankan economy and the extent to which diaspora activities impact Sri Lanka are also discussed. Despite the lack of statistics, especially on informal remittances from the Tamil diaspora, it is suggested that the remittances have been and will continue to be a sizeable component of foreign exchange receipts in Sri Lanka. The paper concludes that the complex interactions between migration, development assistance, remittances, and conflict are important for the prospects for peace and reconstruction in Sri Lanka. The challenge in Sri Lanka will be to move from a vicious cycle of conflict, underdevelopment and migration to a more virtuous one. In this process, it is suggested that the diaspora will be a key player in the shift towards peace and remittances will be an integral part of reconstruction.     

Remittances and well-being among rural-to-urban migrants in China

The main objective of this paper is to propose a systematic approach to empirically analyse the relationship between sending remittances and the utility of migrants, as proxied by their subjective well-being (SWB). Using data from a new survey on China, we estimate models in which a SWB measure is regressed on the level of remittances, finding a sizeable positive correlation. The estimates vary with the socio-economic 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, finding evidence that both altruistic and contractual motivations are at work among rural-to-urban migrants in China.     

The Decline of International Migration as an Economic Force in Rural Areas: A Mexican Case Study

Since 2000, and especially since 2007, there has been a reduction in the importance of international migration and remittances in major global sending regions as a result of recession in receiving countries, anti‐immigrant policies, and improvement in economic opportunities in origin countries. A household survey in five rural communities in Zacatecas, Mexico, in 1995 and again in 2009 exemplifies these trends. Among youthful adults likely to have first migrated in the decade prior to each of these years, there was a significant drop in the proportion of active migrants. Among the active migrants, stays abroad became longer and more permanent, and their households exhibited fewer remittances, less family business ownership, and fewer local purchases, in 2009 compared to 1995. Finally, non‐migrant households greatly improved their economic status in relation to migrant households over the period, reaching approximate parity with their migrant counterparts.     

Remittances and inequality in Cape Verde: the impact of changing family organization

There is a risk that remittances exacerbate socio‐economic inequality among the recipients. In this case study of a Cape Verdean community I explore how variations in family organization interact with the distribution of remittances and their effects on local social stratification. Formerly, the typical migrant was male and directed the main part of his remittances to a nuclear household he had left behind. Households that included a male migrant were able to raise their standard of living over that of households without a migrant member. Today, relationships between women and men have become increasingly unstable and long‐lasting transnational family ties are now rarely based on a conjugal relationship. Both women and men migrate and they often start up a new family abroad. Consequently, when migrants send remittances to Cape Verde they do not invest in their own future lives as they did in the past. Instead, they try to support ageing parents and young children left behind. This means that migrants often have economic obligations to several households and that they are therefore only able to send limited amounts of money to each. This implies, first, that many households are recipients of remittances and, second, that they normally only receive small sums. In conclusion, it may be said that these changes in family organization have reduced the risk that remittances will exacerbate inequality.     

Migrant Remittances and Household Division: The Case of Nang Rong,Thailand

Using data from the Nang Rong Projects social survey (N = 4,989), this work examines the effect of migrant remittances on household splits in an agrarian district of Thailand, a developing country experiencing tremendous economic, demographic, and social transformations. Results show that remittances sent from migrants (especially female migrants) to their origin households affect changes in household affiliation. Findings are consistent with a household allocation model, whereby money sent by migrant siblings significantly affects the movement of the migrant’s sisters and their husbands into a new household. Results suggest that remittances are a significant determinant of household nucleation, especially in the latter stages of the Thai household life cycle. Results also suggest that rural Thais still follow traditional postnuptial residence patterns.     

Labor Migration,Remittances and Household Income: A Comparison between Filipino and Filipina Overseas Workers1

The major purpose of the research is to examine gender differences in patterns of labor market activity, economic behavior and economic outcomes among labor migrants. While focusing on Filipina and Filipino overseas workers, the article addresses the following questions: whether and to what extent earnings and remittances of overseas workers differ by gender; and whether and to what extent the gender of overseas workers differentially affects household income in the Philippines. Data for the analysis were obtained from the Survey of Households and Children of Overseas Workers (a representative sample of households drawn in 1999–2000 from four major “labor sending” areas in the Philippines). The analysis focuses on 1,128 households with overseas workers. The findings reveal that men and women are likely to take different jobs and to migrate to different destinations. The analysis also reveals that many more women were unemployed prior to migration and that the earnings of women are, on average, lower than those of men, even after controlling for variations in occupational distributions, country of destination, and sociodemographic attributes. Contrary to popular belief, men send more money back home than do women, even when taking into consideration earnings differentials between the genders. Further analysis demonstrates that income of households with men working overseas is significantly higher than income of households with women working overseas and that this difference can be fully attributed to the earnings disparities and to differences in amount of remittances sent home by overseas workers. The results suggest that gender inequal‐     

Residential Remittances and Food Security in the Upper West Region of Ghana

In recent years, out migration from the Upper West Region to the southern belt of Ghana for farming has become commonplace. The natural question that has arisen is: what is the potential impact of remittances from this migration pattern on food security in the region? Using multivariate ordered logistic regression this study assesses the linkage between remittances and household food security (derived using the HFIAS) among urban and rural households (n=1,438) in the region. The findings show that urban remittance‐receiving households and rural remittance and non‐remittance receiving households were more likely (OR=2.44, p<0.05; OR=2.46, p<0.001; and OR=1.49, p<0.1, respectively) to report being more severely food‐insecure than urban non‐remittance receiving households. The findings demonstrate that household strategies such as migration and remittances on their own are not sufficient to ameliorate the precarious food insecurity situation of the region. The study calls for development of alternative livelihoods in the region.     

Come Back or Stay? Spend Here or There? Return and Remittances: The Case of Moldova

This paper examines the determinants and consequences of temporary and permanent migration from the perspective of migrant source countries. Based on a large and detailed household dataset on migration in the Republic of Moldova, the most important factors that influence a respective migrant’s decision whether to return to the home country or to stay abroad for good are presented first. Second, the remittance behaviour of temporary and permanent migrants is analysed to investigate how developing countries benefit from either type of migration. The results indicate that the most important determinants of permanent migration relate to the economic conditions at home and abroad, as well as to the legal status of a migrant in the host country. Furthermore, economic and political frustration plays an important role in the decision of permanent migrants not to come back. On the contrary, family ties as measured by the number of close family members at home act as a pull factor for migrant return. Interestingly, permanent migrants use source country networks that differ from those of temporary migrants, indicating that the return decision of individuals is influenced by the decision of their migrant peers. Concerning remittances, the results reveal that, in absolute terms, temporary migrants remit around 30 per cent more than their permanent counterparts. This outcome is surprising, because temporary migrants often reside in countries where wages are much lower. Overall, the findings indicate that when compared to permanent migration, temporary migration is favourable for developing countries, as it fosters not only repatriation of skills, but also higher remittances, and home savings.     

Where do Remittances Go in Household Consumption? Empirical Evidence from Sri Lanka-Wide Micro-data

Private internal and international remittances are a major source of household money in Sri Lanka, yet their impact on household welfare has long been a research gap. Based on the Migration and Development Theory, this article examines how private remittances affect household expenditure behaviour, using nationally representative microdata and applying quasi-experimental methods. Private remittances have significantly increased household per-capita expenditure and initiated positive behavioural changes via increased allocations for basic needs, human and physical capital investment. Compared with internal remittances, the impact of international remittance shows a strong potential for reducing poverty incidence and improving people's well-being: households in richer/richest expenditure quartiles and urban households invest in education, which supports the country's long-standing record of education. Rural households demonstrate favourable changes in spending behaviour with receiving private remittances. From a public policy standpoint, government favours migration so that remittances are more likely to flow. A proper remittance-transfer mechanism to encourage smooth remittance is thus required.     

The Dynamics of Repeat Migration: A Markov Chain Analysis1

This article studies repeat or circular migration between the host and home countries using panel data for Germany, distinguishing between factors generating single moves, circular migration, and absorption. Migrants are more likely to leave early after their first arrival in Germany, and when they have social and familial bonds in the home country, but less likely when they have a job in Germany and speak the language well. Once out‐migrated, the return probability is mainly affected by remittances and family considerations. Circular migration is fostered by vocational training in the host country and older age. Whereas male migrants are 9 percent more likely to return to their home country than female migrants, gender is not significant for predicting the return to move back to Germany.     

How Do Workers’ Remittances Respond to Lending Rates?

The literature on migrants’ motivation to remit ranges from self‐interest to altruism where studies analyse the impact from home country interest rates or interest differentials between home and host countries. We reinterpret the interest rate elasticity of remittances as a form of debt‐repayment responsiveness rather than based on opportunistic motivation. Modelling altruistic transfer and debt‐repayment, we find that, for a panel of countries, the long‐run responsiveness of remittances to changes in real lending rates is negative. This suggests that an expansionary (contractionary) monetary policy is most likely to lead to an increase (reduction) in remittances in the long‐run. In contrast to this, the short‐run impact of interest rate changes on remittances is positive.     

Remittances and the Maintenance of Dual Social Worlds: The Transnational Working Lives of Migrants in Greater London

Most research on remittances focuses on economic motivations, with little emphasis on the social contexts in which the remittance economy operates. Through an analysis of in‐depth interviews with migrant workers in a London hotel and hospital, we examine how migrants’ familial and social relationships in both sending and receiving countries inform the decision to send remittances. We suggest that remittances are a mechanism through which migrants are able to fulfil multiple obligations to families and places of origin, while also enhancing their own economic status and future. First, satisfying the cultural expectation of sending remittances helps migrants maintain their social worlds at “home”. Second, we observed that both positive and negative changes in power and resources influence the decision to send remittances by motivating migrants to invest in their social position in either their home or receiving country. In sum, we argue that the migrants’ social experience in the United Kingdom might be just as predictive of remittance behaviour as their economic and social status in the country of origin. We, therefore, call for a need to move beyond the often one‐sided concern with development by concentrating on the overlapping social worlds of migrants.     

International Migrants' Remittances and Welfare Status of the Left‐Behind Families in Turkey

In this study, micro implications of remittances are examined based on the data from the 1996 Turkish International Migration Survey (TIMS‐96), part of a comprehensive study of Eurostat and the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI). Results of the study imply that migrant savings are generally used for satisfying basic consumption needs. Patterns of expenditures suggest that for 12 percent of all the households receiving remittances, about 80 percent used remittances to improve their standard of living. Considering the variation by regions, it is observed that households in less‐developed regions spent more on daily expenses than those in developed regions. This suggests that daily expenses of households in less developed regions depend significantly on remittances received by households. Moreover, remittances have a positive impact on household welfare; households receiving remittances are found to be better off than nonremitting households. This suggests that migration and remittances have positive indirect effects on incomes of emigrant households. A considerable part of the relevant literature argues that remittances are mostly spent on consumption, housing and land and are not used for productive investment that would contribute to long‐run development. This conclusion often rests on arbitrary definitions of “productive investments.” Access to better nutrition and allocation of more resources to education are, without question, forms of productive investment. Although emigration does not serve as a solution to the problems of national development, it is evident that remittances generate considerable welfare effects, at least for the remittance‐receiving population.