Remittances transferred from Asian Americans to the origin country: a case study among Cambodian Americans

Abstract

Southeast Asians were some of the first refugees arriving in the United States of America with federal refugee assistance after the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980. A large population from Cambodia entered the United States in the 1980s as a result of one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century. In this paper, I investigate the scope and motives for remittances from the United States that are transferred to Cambodia, the country of origin of the refugees. This will be done by taking a closer look at trends in remittances between 1992 and 2013, factors that contribute to the decisions to send remittances, and the characteristics of remittance recipients. The study found out that: (1) around half of the total remittances in the world transferred to Cambodia were derived from the United States, while amounts from each individual sender depended upon the economic condition of Cambodian Americans and the financial needs of their target recipient; (2) factors influencing decision-making in sending remittances included regular communication, age, amount of time for arrival to the receiving country, and closer association to Cambodian communities in the United States; and (3) remittances were primarily transferred to senior and younger family members for use in daily expenditures, health care and educational support.