Remittance Sending Research Articles

Remitting through crisis: Looking beyond resilience in UK migrant and diaspora communities

Abstract Migrants’ remittances have often been understood to operate as a form of insurance for families, communities and countries of origin, increasing in times of downturn and disaster. But what happens when the same crisis hits both destination and origin countries simultaneously? During the Covid-19 pandemic, despite early expectations of a dramatic contraction, official recorded remittances were characterized as remarkably a ‘resilient’ financial flow. This article investigates the people and processes behind remittances through the crisis. Drawing on micro-level mixed-methods primary research in the UK, we investigate indications of community-level resilience in migrants’ remittance practices, highlighting that perceptions of rising needs abroad added fuel to people’s desire to remit, while diverse economic capacities also mediated remittance sending. Both a strong sense of meaning and connection, and the stresses of managing multiple needs at home and abroad, were apparent in diaspora accounts of sending remittances. While money ultimately continued to flow, through this as through many other crises, the discourse of remittance resilience risks eclipsing the major challenges navigated by migrant communities. The relevance to research and policy in the context of the contemporary cost-of-living crisis is explored.

Globalization and Human Mobility: In Pursuit of Labour Improvement

The objective of this article is to study the causes of human mobility in today's world, starting from the main cause which is the search for better job opportunities to increase their income and improve their welfare, as it is supported by the Neoclassical theory on migration. The questions established in this work to be answered are: What are the main causes of migrations? What have been its repercussions on global society? The study is based on the neoclassical migration theory, which main axis is that there are not only internal migrations, from rural to urban, but also to overseas, which have as their main cause job improvement and increasing their wage. Subsequently, in the topic of migration, economy and employment are the main causes of migration and what it entails are explored in depth, such as technological development in the host country and sending of remittances to the country of origin. In the figure there are five main reasons that are considered to be the most common causes of migrations, highlighting job improvement. Then, in the subtheme of globalization and migration, both phenomena are linked, stating that globalization has done a lot to rise the migration, since, with it, technology, social networks have been facilitated trade relations between countries and the fact that people have the impulse to migrate to always seek their social well-being.

Covid–19: Foreign Remittances and Migrants' Well-Being in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted every sphere of life and livelihoods around the world. Many migrant workers from the Global South, such as Bangladesh, working in the Gulf countries were reported to be impacted by COVID-19, but the direct voices and views of migrant workers themselves and their households are largely unknown. This research adopts a mixed-method approach to assess the impact of the pandemic on foreign remittances to Bangladesh and the well-being of migrant households. The primary data collection involved fieldwork conducted in four migrant-dense villages, situated in Mymensingh and Meherpur districts of Bangladesh. A set of 221 household surveys was administered. In addition to the surveys, 52 semi-structured interviews were carried out, engaging with key individuals at community, district, and national levels such as heads of migrant households, returnee migrants, managers of migration financiers, owners of labor recruiting agencies, officials of the district manpower office etc. Results show that although a significant number of Bangladeshi migrant workers returned home since the COVID-19 pandemic and the outflow of Bangladeshi migrant workers shrank by 69 percent in 2020, remittance inflows at the national level witnessed a growth of 18.5 percent in 2020, which did not resonate with the negative prediction made by the World Bank. However, this research found a macro-micro mismatch, indicating a substantial decline in remittances at the household level. This might be due to the existence of a robust unofficial channel for remittance sending. Approximately 62% of migrant households in the case study sites experienced a 32% reduction in remittances during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-COVID-19 period. In response to the decline in remittance income, a majority of migrant households (77%) resorted to utilizing their accumulated savings. Additionally, approximately 20% of households sought financial support and borrowing from friends, relatives, and community members. At the community level, the local economy experienced a sharp downturn, leading to a ripple effect that affected everyone within the community. To address the unofficial remittance sending, the Government of Bangladesh should implement effective measures to curb unofficial remittance channels. Upskilling initiatives have the potential to alleviate the vulnerability of Bangladeshi migrant workers, fostering increased income stability. Policymakers should place greater emphasis on crafting savings instruments tailored to the specific needs of migrant households. It is also imperative to prioritize an income diversification policy at the community level to mitigate dependence on remittances.

Migration and the Constant Search for Self-Improvement in Africa

Globally, narratives about the nexus between migration and development have gained prominence among academics, policymakers, development practitioners, as well as social partners. However, the historical and contextual factors that have shaped the patterns of migration flows within and from the African continent have been poorly conceptualized and theorized. The components of migration that have the propensity to lead to self-improvement and development such as the sending of cash, social, and political remittances; skills and knowledge transfers; and diaspora-origin country engagements, need to be examined as a composite in order to fully appreciate the developmental potential of migration within the African context. Using thematic and content analysis of relevant extant literature, we examine the contextual factors that characterize the nexus between migration and self-improvement/development in Africa. Our analyses are situated within an Africa-centered conceptualization of development and migration. We argue that the development impacts of migration vary across different regions in Africa depending on the contextual factors that shape such migrations. Migration spurs self-improvement and development just as self-improvement and development facilitate migration.

Ageing, migration, and old age care in transnational Cuba

In Cuba, the number of older people in need of care is increasing rapidly. At the same time, many younger people are leaving the country in search of a better life. This article focuses on these two processes by asking how care for older people is organized when (some) children live abroad. It shows that in the absence of an adequate public old age care infrastructure, a private market for home-based old age care has emerged. This development is linked to the sending of remittances and may potentially exacerbate social inequalities between older people receiving and not receiving money from abroad.

Towards an encompassing concept of remittance in the digital era: Assessing the role of formal banking and mobile money accounting in its spatial flow

Drawing from capital mobility theory, this article adopts an encompassing view on remittance that covers both domestic and international financial transfers, to retrospectively explore and evaluate the relative influences of formal banking (FB) and mobile money accounting (MMA) on the extensive supply of remittances from individuals living within the economic community of the West African states (ECOWAS), during the COVID-19 pandemic. To that end, the study uses random utility maximization to model ECOWAS level data extracted from the 2021 Global Findex Survey. The results show that FB and MMA had respectively 12.2% and 54.5% positive impacts on the marginal utilities (MUs) individuals derive from supplying remittances. The comparative evaluation of the two remittance channels suggested that FB and MMA were neither substitutes, nor complements into the individual’s extensive supply function of remittances within ECOWAS. However, MMA was found to be 4.47 times more effective than FB, at driving outbound remittance behavior. Additionally, the findings revealed a significant income gradient in outbound remittance behavior; as well as highlighting a 22.4% gender based gradient in remittance sending in favor of females; and a 6.4% regional gradient favoring urban residents. Moreover, the econometric findings suggested that expending financial inclusion through easing access to key financial products and services; as well as government welfare programs, and employment income, significantly increased the likelihood of remittance sending within the ECOWAS bloc. Hence, important implications for endogenous regional growth and future research are discussed.

Negotiating Gender Roles and Power Relations Through the Management of International Migrant Remittances in a Patriarchal Community in Ghana

This paper draws on a feminist poststructural perspective to examine gendered dimensions of sending and managing international migrant remittances in a patriarchal community in Ghana. It relies on primary data collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and observation in Nkoranza, a Ghanaian community with a long history of international migration and receipt of remittances, to analyze the fluidity of gendered and intergenerational power relationships associated with managing remittances. The findings show that males and females perform different roles as remitters and managers of remittances. While the patterns of sending and receiving remittances tend to conform to gender norms, which construct men as providers and women as carers, these subject positions are fluid. Although men are generally reluctant to perform traditional female roles even when their wives migrate, gendered and intergenerational power relations are being negotiated through the sending and management of remittances.

The Influence of Consular Strategy on Performance of Commercial Banks’ Diaspora Remittances in Kenya

The study was conducted to examine the influence of consular strategy on performance of Commercial banks’ diaspora remittances in Kenya. The evolution of globalization, regionalization and deregulation experienced in the world of business has exposed the business entities to a lot of competitions both locally and internationally. Commercial banks in Kenya have not been spared of the stiff business competitive environment. The commercial banks have resulted into using competitive strategies such as consular strategy. Theory of risk returns was incorporated in the study since it widely supports the establishment of partnerships and the building of agency networks. Explanatory research design was used. Both primary and secondary data were collected. Primary data was collected using questionnaire while the secondary data was collected from relevant literature materials, the organization’s annual reports and website. The data collection instrument of the study was considered reliable since it attained the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.795. The study targeted 126 managers of the commercial banks based in their specific headquarters offices in Nairobi. The sampling procedure was done by use of Krejcie & Morgan sampling table giving a sample of 95 managers. The pilot study was based on 10% of the research population giving 13 respondents that were randomly selected. Descriptive statistics which comprised of mean and standard deviations were computed. Inferential statistics which included correlation and regression analysis were also computed. SPSS version 25 was used to aid in data analysis. The study results established R2 of 0.608. Data was presented using tables. The study concluded that consular strategy significantly influences performance of commercial banks’ diaspora remittances in Kenya. The study recommends that banks in Kenya should have more agency networks and partnerships with banks in the diaspora and other financial institutions use in order to enhance efficient transfer or sending of remittances from diaspora to home country. The study recommended that banks adopt consular strategy to enhance performance of Commercial banks’ diaspora remittances in Kenya.

Gender, Remittances and the Impact of COVID-19: A Preliminary Analysis

Remittances are an important source of development finance, particularly in recent years, due also to increased migration flows at the global level. The recent COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a sudden drop in remittances, and an alarming aspect of the pandemic was that it particularly affected female migrants. Despite the importance of gender for remittance sending and usage, research about international migration and remittances insufficiently considers its role. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to partially fill this gap in the relevant literature by trying to address the following important questions: (1) In what ways is gender important in understanding the sending and the usage of remittances?; and (2) what is the relationship between gender, COVID-19, and pandemic-induced remittance reductions? In doing so, the paper provides an overview of the (limited) literature on the vast influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on female migrants. It also assesses whether gender has influenced the extent to which remittance inflows decreased as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic by conducting a preliminary empirical analysis based on some recent data (albeit limited) on the above nexus. The paper contributes to the relevant literature in multiple ways. First, the detailed discussion of the influence of gender on remittances and the impact of COVID-19 on female migrants has revealed important aspects of the overall relationship that can stimulate further research on these topics and also raises important policy questions for policymakers. Second, preliminary findings of a possible negative correlation between COVID-19-induced changes in remittances and female emigration rates provide some further insights into the above nexus. Finally, the paper raises important concerns about female migrants’ well-being during the pandemic and calls for further empirical research.

Diasporas and Collective Remittances: From State-Driven to Unofficial Forms of Diaspora Engagement

This article advances understandings of collective remittances practices by elaborating on the case of the Armenian diaspora in the Netherlands. It argues that the collection, management, and distribution of collective remittances are crucial aspects of how diasporic immigrant groups function. Hence, collective remittances represent a lens through which to analyze a diaspora's internal life, gender differences and tensions, relations with the origin state or homeland, and connections to other relevant institutions. Furthermore, the article brings three new insights to diaspora studies. First, it demonstrates how practices connected to the collection and sending of collective remittances reflect the internal dynamics of diasporic migrations and diaspora-homeland relations. Second, the article unpacks the concept of collective remittances itself, classifying it into three categories: collective remittances initiated from above, with a state-driven character; collective remittances organized by transnational non-state institutions, such as religious institutions and pan-diasporic organizations; and collective remittances initiated from below, organized by migrants and local networks of diaspora members. Third, this article highlights women's roles in organizing alternative forms of collective remittances, from external to official channels. The qualitative examination of collective remittances presented here supplies a new vision of collective remittances in which informal and hidden aspects, gender roles, forms of reciprocation, and creation and circulation of trust are highlighted.

The dynamics of remittance behaviour among Senegalese men and women in Spain

AbstractThis article explores the conditions under which Senegalese immigrants in Spain send remittances home, beginning with the premise that remittances are intertwined with migration histories and migrants’ incorporation into host societies. Given the strong gender norms in Senegal, we perform separate analyses for men and women. We use a longitudinal approach to analyse how remittance behaviour is affected by immigrants’ characteristics, their economic integration, and their ties to origin and destination. Our data come from the MAFE and MESE surveys, which were implemented in 2008 and 2011, respectively. The results indicate that remitters constitute a clear majority among Senegalese immigrants in Spain. The Kaplan–Meier analysis shows that they rarely stop remitting once they start doing so, and the multivariate analysis reveals a strong positive association between employment and remittance sending. Although most coefficients in the full model are similar for men and women, some important differences emerge as well.

Object-centered interviews in mixed methods: Yielding the emotions of overseas migrant households in family financial socialization

This interdisciplinary methods paper talks about how families receiving overseas remittances discuss, decide and act about finance (what is called family financial socialization). Money matters yield delicate family dynamics, and families and their members hesitate to talk about money to others. Usual verbal interview methods may not be enough to surface emotions when remittance senders and receivers engage with each other surrounding family finances. On this score, visual methods provide opportunities to innovate mixed methods projects while trying to surface the lived experiences of people through visual stimuli. This paper shares the story of a mixed methods project —done in two rural municipalities in the Philippines— that implemented a visual method called object-centered interviews (OCIs). OCI participants (N ​= ​69) recruited for this study came from a household survey (N ​= ​443 migrant and 463 non-migrant households) done in research sites. In terms of data analysis, phenomenological reduction was employed to the OCI answers; major themes from the visual and verbal interview answers were then presented as a metaphorical visual display. “Cuts” of survey data and the major phenomenological themes were then integrated. The OCI as a visual method and an elicitation interview technique became useful in further understanding the behaviors and emotions of migrant families during family financial interactions. Psychologists, from various sub-fields, may find the use of objects during interviews helpful when research participants become verbally tight-lipped to narrate their lived experiences and emotions on ordinary and sensitive topics.

A scoping review on the measurement of transnationalism in migrant health research in high-income countries

BackgroundMigrants commonly maintain transnational ties as they relocate and settle in a new country. There is a growing body of research examining transnationalism and health. We sought to identify how transnationalism has been defined and operationalized in migrant health research in high income countries and to document which populations and health and well-being outcomes have been studied in relation to this concept.MethodsWe conducted a scoping review using the methodology recommended by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). We searched nine electronic databases; no time restrictions were applied. Studies published in English or French in peer-reviewed journals were considered. Studies were eligible if they included a measure of transnationalism (or one of its dimensions; social, cultural, economic, political and identity ties and/or healthcare use) and examined health or well-being.ResultsForty-seven studies, mainly cross-sectional designs (81%), were included; almost half were conducted in the United States. The majority studied immigrants, broadly defined; 23% included refugees and/or asylum-seekers while 36% included undocumented migrants. Definitions of transnationalism varied according to the focus of the study and just over half provided explicit definitions. Most often, transnationalism was defined in terms of social connections to the home country. Studies and measures mainly focused on contacts and visits with family and remittance sending, and only about one third of studies examined and measured more than two dimensions of transnationalism. The operationalization of transnationalism was not consistent and reliability and validity data, and details on language translation, were limited. Almost half of the studies examined mental health outcomes, such as emotional well-being, or symptoms of depression. Other commonly studied outcomes included self-rated health, life satisfaction and perceived discrimination.ConclusionTo enhance comparability in this field, researchers should provide a clear, explicit definition of transnationalism based on the scope of their study, and for its measurement, they should draw from validated items/questions and be consistent in its operationalization across studies. To enhance the quality of findings, more complex approaches for operationalizing transnationalism (e.g., latent variable modelling) and longitudinal designs should be used. Further research examining a range of transnationalism dimensions and health and well-being outcomes, and with a diversity of migrant populations, is also warranted.

Effect of Youths Remittances on Rural Livelihoods in South Eastern Nigeria

This study evaluated the effect of remittances on crop productivity and household welfare in Southeastern, Nigeria. Anambra and Imo states were purposively selected for their high rate in youth migration; and 714 households were used for the study. Data was analyzed using Endogenous treatment effect model. Wealth Index Score was used as a proxy for household welfare. The results of the study showed that employment status, sex of migrant, and age of migrant, sending remittance for buying of agricultural implements as well as paying for school were the major factors that influenced sending of remittances by the youths to the originating households in the study area. Also, the average treatment effect (ATE) of remittances on household welfare was insignificant, implying that there was no significant difference between remittance and non-remittance households. However, the ATE of remittances on crop productivity was significant in the pooled states but not significant in the states. Youths should be encouraged to move into agriculture by removing the bottlenecks associated to agricultural production.

The financialization of remittances and the individualization of development: A new power geometry of global development

The article argues that the increasing financialization of remittances produces an enormous shift in the political economy of development and contributes to a new power geometry of development. Exploring this power geometry, the article focuses on three main issues: First, migrants intend to support their friends and families on an individual level as remittance senders, and together with the corresponding recipients they form a translocal moral economy. On a macro level, the value of these transactions is high when currency hierarchies remain strong. Financialization of remittances amplifies this micro–macro divergence inherent to remittance flows. Deepening the financial “development” impact of remittances then goes hand in hand with cementing global inequality. Second, economic and political elites in remittance-receiving societies who are able to organize direct and indirect access to remittances with the help of financial instruments and through financialization are able to emancipate from national political control. This indirectly contributes to fostering elite rule in remittance-receiving societies. Third and finally, development is no longer a “national” objective but has become the individual risk of migrants and their relatives and friends. Financialization of remittances therefore consolidates an individualized notion of development. This paper aims to go beyond the narrow economistic and problem-solving approach on which many studies on remittances and financial inclusion draw. It illustrates how financialization of remittances (re)shapes power relations both within the Global South and between the Global South and the Global North.

Uneven recovery: a case study of factors affecting remittance-receiving in Tacloban, Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan

ABSTRACT Over the last 15 years, a growing literature has suggested that remittances are important for post-disaster recovery in many developing countries. Yet, limited research has explored the complex relationships between remittance senders and receivers during and after disasters. The focus is on remittance-receiving households in Tacloban City in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan. This study identifies five main factors that affect the ability of households to turn their links with migrants into remittances after disasters. These factors are (1) the households’ socio-economic class, (2) the household’s relation with the migrant, (3) the migrant’s occupation and the country they are living or working in, (4) intra-family dynamics, and (5) cultural norms. This analysis provides further evidence to illustrate that, even in the context of remitting after disasters, the power-dynamics of transnational migrant relationships are often highly complex with economic, societal and cultural factors at play.

A qualitative study of the migration-adaptation nexus to deal with environmental change in Tinghir and Tangier (Morocco)

ABSTRACT Over the last two decades, migration-as-adaptation discourses have theorized and studied how migration could facilitate adaptation to deal with the effects of adverse environmental change. However, contextual factors, such as migration trends and local social and economic contexts, as well as perceptions of this linkage have often been neglected. This study aims to understand how people perceive this relationship and whether and how migration, often in the form of remittances, is used for adaptation purposes. For this study, 48 semi-structured interviews were conducted with inhabitants of Tangier and Tinghir (Morocco). These regions are confronted differently by environmental change impacts. While both face increasing precipitation and temperature changes, Tinghir is additionally confronted with drought, desertification, water scarcity, and a growing number of more extreme weather events. Furthermore, both regions receive internal migrants and experienced significant emigration towards Europe. Results indicate that migration, as well as the sending of remittances, could produce a multitude of adaptation outcomes towards environmental change, resulting in an exacerbation of existing social vulnerabilities, alter economic development at the community level, and impact the development of alternative adaptation strategies, at both the individual/household and community levels. Findings demonstrate that migration-as-adaptation discourses must be considered within social, political, economic, and environmental contexts. These discourses should consider local migration histories and prevalent cultures of migration.

Remittances, migration and poverty. A study for Mexico and Central America

In the last two decades, remittances have acquired great importance as a source of external income for various developing economies. In the particular case of the Latin America region, the United States represents the most important destination, with nearly 25 million Latinos living in this country. This paper analyses the effect that migration and the sending of remittances have on poverty in Mexico and Central America. The results show that a 10% increase in migration to the United States (as a percentage of the population in the destination country) translates into an 8.6% reduction in the population living on less than US$ 1.90 a day; while the poverty gap is reduced by 12.8%. With regard to the sending of remittances, a reduction of 6.7% is observed in the poor population and 10% in relation to the poverty gap. These results are in line with previous literature and, in general, are maintained to various specifications.

Rents, the moral economy of remittances, and the rise of a new transnational development model

World remittances accounted for 714 billion $US in 2018 of which 550bn $US flew to the Global South. In today’s Global South, remittances are a major source of foreign exchange earnings. Remittances increasingly question the notion of the Global South as a commodity and raw material exporter. This article integrates remittances into rent theory. It argues for a broader understanding of rents and uses the explanatory power of rent theory. Conceptually, the article differentiates between sources of rent and their mode of appropriation. The article situates the causes for remittances both on a macro structural level in uneven global development and resulting inequalities as well as on the micro level within translocal moral economies between potential remittance senders in migratory host economies and their home economies. Remittances originate in global inequalities and the transnationalization of labor markets. Remittances are mediated through currency exchange rates, but remittances are negotiated within translocal moral economies. The article proposes to conceptualize remittances as labor differential rents. These rents give rise to a new transnational development model and an increasing number of economies specialize on remittances for their own social reproduction. Finally, the article points to the peculiarities of this development model: remittance-rents indirectly stabilize elite rule and shift political accountabilities from the political system to within transnational families. With the analysis of remittances, the article adds new structural economic mechanisms and institutional modes of rent appropriation that rent theory has thus far neglected.

International Remittances Literature: A Study in Bangladesh during the period of 1971-2020

Remittance has become a major contributor to the Bangladeshi economy. As the emigrant workers from Bangladesh gradually increased over the years, the amount of annual remittance to the country significantly rose. In 1974, Wage Earners' Scheme was initiated in order to help the Non-resident Bangladeshis remit their earnings home through legal channels. The scheme soon became popular among the Bangladeshis working abroad. Some $11.8 million was remitted to Bangladesh in the fiscal year of 1974–75. The amount rose to over $350 million in the fiscal year of 1980-81 and to over $750 million in the fiscal year of 1990–91. Remittance is sent formally through various ways such as demand draft, traveler's check, telegraphic transfer, postal order, direct transfer, Automatic Teller Machine. etc. Hundi or money carrier system is prevalent as informal process of remittance sending in most cases. The most popular reasons behind the preference towards Hundi system is the absence of any transaction charges, its fast delivery and the opportunity to maintain confidentiality. This research paper is designed to provide an illustrated account of what kind of research has been done on these remittances at home and abroad over the past fifty years.