Migrants’ Remittances

Background

Migrants’ remittances refer to the financial transfers that migrant workers send back to their home countries. These funds typically go to support family members, assist with migration-related expenses, or facilitate the migrant’s eventual return. Remittances are a significant source of foreign exchange for many countries and can have profound economic implications.

Historical Context

The phenomenon of remittances is longstanding and has evolved with global migration patterns. Historically, migration has been driven by factors like economic distress, political conflict, and the quest for better opportunities. Initially, these remittances may have been sent through informal channels, but with the advent of formal banking and remittance services, tracking them has become more straightforward and secure.

Definitions and Concepts

Migrants’ remittances can be defined as the sums of money that expatriate workers send back to their home countries. These remittances are sent for various purposes:

Maintenance of Family Members: Ensuring the well-being of family members back home.
Facilitation of Migration: Assisting other family members to migrate.
Preparation for Return: Saving funds to retire, start businesses, or build homes in the native country.

These funds are recorded in the invisibles section of the balance of payments under the current account, reflecting their significance in international economics.

Major Analytical Frameworks

Classical Economics

Classical economics primarily views remittances as capital flow between individuals that assist in financial redistribution, aiding wealth equilibrium between nations.

Neoclassical Economics

Neoclassical perspectives focus on the economic incentives driving migration and remittances, such as higher wages abroad. Remittances are seen as contributions to both the source and receiving economies.

Keynesian Economics

Keynesians might analyze remittances as factors that can stimulate aggregate demand in the recipient countries, spurring economic growth and development.

Marxian Economics

Marxian theory may critique remittances for potentially perpetuating exploitation in underdeveloped nations by propping up economies heavily dependent on labor exported to richer countries.

Institutional Economics

Institutional economics examines how regulatory, social, and financial frameworks influence remittance flows and impact on families and communities.

Behavioral Economics

Focuses on the decision-making processes behind remittances, influenced by psychological, emotional, and cultural factors.

Post-Keynesian Economics

Post-Keynesian analyses incorporate perspectives on income distribution and economic stability, with remittances possibly being mechanisms of risk-sharing and economic security.

Austrian Economics

Analyzes remittances through the lens of individual choices, personal freedoms, and market-driven movements affecting both the labor market and currency flow.

Development Economics

Delegates substantial emphasis on remittances as key tools for poverty alleviation, economic development, and boosting human capital in developing nations.

Monetarism

Examines the effect of remittances on the money supply in recipient countries, inflation rates, and how they fit within broader monetary policies.

Comparative Analysis

Comparatively, different economic schools of thought offer various interpretations of the role and impact of remittances. While some present them as essentially beneficial movements, others highlight potential risks or inequities associated with such financial flows.

Case Studies

Mexico

Being one of the largest recipients of remittances, Mexico illustrates how these inflows can significantly contribute to the country’s economy, finance familial needs, and maintain local consumption levels.

Philippines

Remittances in the Philippines highlight leveraging transnational family ties, with funds often directed toward education, real estate investment, and small business ventures.

Suggested Books for Further Studies

“Migration and Remittances Factbook” by Dilip Ratha
“Remittances and Development: Lessons from Latin America” by Pablo Munoz
“The Remittance Landscape: Spaces of Migration in Rural Mexico and Urban USA” by Sarah Lynn Lopez

Balance of Payments: A record of all financial transactions made between consumers in one country and the rest of the world.
Foreign Exchange Reserves: Holdings of foreign currencies and other assets held by a nation’s central bank.
Invisibles: Transactions in the balance of payments that involve intangible items, such as services and remittances, differentiated from tangible goods.