Course Reading Part I: Remittance Origins, Trends, Drivers and Determinates
Course Book List
(DLG) De la Garza, Rodolfo O. and Briant Lindsay Lowell (Eds). (2002). Sending Money Home: Hispanic Remittances and Community Development. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
(MR) Maimbo, Samuel Munzeke and Dilip Ratha (Eds.). (2005). Remittances: Development Impact and Future Prospects. Washington, DC: World Bank.
(O) Ozden, Caglar and Maurice Schiff (Eds.). (2005). International Migration, Remittances, and the Brain Drain. Washington, DC: World Bank.
(WB) World Bank. (2005). Global Economic Prospects 2006: Economic Implications of Migration and Remittances. Washington, DC: World Bank. Forthcoming end-November 2005.
(IDB) Terry, Donald and Steven Wilson (Eds.). (2005). Beyond Small Change: Making Migrant Remittances Count. Washington, DC: Inter American Development Bank.
* (M) Maimbo, Samuel Munzeke. (2005). Migrant Labor Remittances in South Asia. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Assigned Readings
Note: Readings marked with * indicate optional reading. Readings marked with $$ indicate that assigned reading was written or co-authored by one of the guest lecturers in this class.
PART I
Origins, Trends and Major Themes
$$ Chapters 1-3 in (DLG), p. 3-81 for an overview of major themes in Latin American remittances. Note: more updated data on flows should be sought in reference materials, such as the IDB/MIF map on their website and the forthcoming Global Economic Prospects.
$$ Chapter 1 in (IDB) for statement of major issues.
$$ “Remittances: An Overview”, Ch. 16 and *Ch. 2 in (MR) for overview discussion of themes.
Bhagwati, Jagdish. (2003). “Borders Beyond Control.” Foreign Affairs 82 (1): 98-104.
Gammeltoft, Peter. (2002). “Remittances and Other Financial Flows to Developing Countries.” International Migration 40 (5), 181-211.
* Guarnizo, Luis Eduardo. “The Economics of Transnational Living.” International Migration Review. New York: Center for Migration Studies of New York, Inc., Volume XXXVII, number 3, Fall 2003, pp.666-699.
Origins, Trends and Major Themes
* Mora, Jose and J. Edward Taylor, Chapter 1 of (O). “Determinants of Migration, Destination and Sector Choice: Disentangling Individual, Household and Community Effects.”
$$ Orozco, Manuel. (January 2004). “All in the Family: Latin America’s Most Important International Financial Flow.” Report of the Inter-American Dialogue Task Force on Remittances.
$$ Orozco, Manuel and Lindsay Lowell. (July 2005). Transnational Engagement, Remittances and their Relationship to Development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Institute for the Study of International Migration.
$$ Chapters 1 and 2 in Orozco, Manuel (November 2005). “Remittances – Global Opportunities for International Person-to-person Money Transfers.” United Kingdom: VRL Publishing Ltd.
Institute of Development Studies (January 2006) “Sending Money Home: Can Remittances Reduce Poverty?” Id21 Insights #60 UK: University of Sussex
Economics, Drivers and Determinants: Issues in Migration
$$ Ch. 2-3 in (WB) for overview discussion of economics and policy themes related to migration.
Kapur, Devesh and John McHale. “Migration’s New Payoff.” Foreign Policy. Washington: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Vol.139, November/December 2003.
* Stark, Oded and David Bloom. (1985). “The New Economics of Labor Migration.” American Economic Review 75 (2), 173-178.
Taylor, E.J. (2000). “The New Economics of Labour Migration and the Role of Remittances in the Migration Process.”International Migration 37 (1), 63-88.
Economics, Drivers and Determinants: Remittances and Migration
$$ Ch. 4 in (WB) for overview discussion of economics, drivers and determinants.
$$ Ch. 4 in (IDB) about remittances as a function of individual and household risk assessment and optimization.
$$ Suro, Roberto. (2003). “Remittance Senders and Receivers- Tracking the Transnational Channels.” Washington D.C: Pew Hispanic Center, MIF and Bendixen Associates.
El-Sakka, M.I.T. and Robert McNabb. (1999). “The Macroeconomic Determinants of Emigrant Remittances.” World Development 27 (8), 1493-1502.
Chapter 2, pp. 65.84 in International Monetary Fund. (April 2005). World Economic Outlook. Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
Russell, Sharon Stanton. “Remittances from International Migration: A Review in Perspective.” World Development. Oxford: Pergamon Press, Vol. 14, No. 6, 1986, pp 677-696. Note: Special attention to section 3 entitled “Remittance Flows: Data Issues, Determinants and Effects.”
Profiles of Senders and Receivers
Chs. 2-3 in (IDB) for profiles of Latin senders and receivers in Japan and the US.
Chs. 7-11 of (IDB) address remittances to Mexico, Central America, the Andean region and the English-speaking Caribbean.
Orozco, Manuel and Rachel Fedewa. (August 2005). “Regional Integration: Trends and Patterns of Remittance flows within South East Asia,” Asian Development Bank, TA 6212-REG Southeast Asia Workers Remittance Study.
$$ Ch. 3 in (O) for study of Philippine remittances in the face of exchange rate shock.
Profiles of Senders and Receivers (cont’d)
Cohen, Jeffrey H. (2005). “The Oaxaca-US Connection and Remittances”, Migration Policy Institute, January.
New York Department of City Planning. (2004). The Newest New Yorkers 2000: Immigrant New York in the New Millennium. NYC DCP #04-10.
Passel, Jeffrey. (2005). “Unauthorized Migrants: Numbers and Characteristics. Background Briefing Prepared for the Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future.” Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center.
$$ Rivera-Batiz, Francisco. (2002). “The Socioeconomic Status of Hispanic New Yorkers: Current Trends and Future Prospects.” Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center.
* SIPA Applied Workshop Project. (2004). “Turning the Colombian Brain Drain into a Brain Gain: A Study of Attitudes among Colombians Living in the United States,” New York: MPA Workshop Project, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.
Profiles of Senders and Receivers (cont’d)
$$ Bendixen and Associates. (June 2005). “Sending Money to Latin America: The Human Face of Remittances.” Washington, DC: Presentation to the Inter American Development Bank Conference on Global Remittances.
$$ Bendixen & Associates. (April 2004). “State by State: Survey of Remittance Senders US to Latin America.” Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank.
PART II
Impact and Significance for Development: Overview
$$ Ch. 1, 3, *4 in (MR) for discussion of remittances as a source of external finance for development, socioeconomic impact of remittances and *case study of remittances in India and Pakistan.
Black, Richard. (June 2003). “Soaring Remittances Raise New Issues.” Migration Information Source. Migration Policy Institute.
* Chami, Ralph, Connel Fullenkamp and Samir Jahjah. (September 2003). “Are Immigrant Remittance Flows a Source of Capital for Development?” IMF Working Paper WP/03/189.
Impact and Significance for Development: Local and Community Development
Durand, Jorge, William Kandel, Emilio Parrado, Douglas S. Massey. (May 1996). “International Migration and Development in Mexican Communities.” Demography 33 (2), 249-65.
$$ De la Garza, Rodolfo O. and B. Lindsay Lowell. (June 2000). ”The Developmental Role of Remittances in U.S. Latino Communities and in Latin American Countries.” A Final Project Report of the Inter-American Dialogue and the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute.
$$ De la Garza, Rodolfo and Jerónimo Cortina. (2004). “Immigrant Remitting Behavior and Its Developmental Consequences for Mexico and El Salvador.” The Tomás Rivera Policy Institute.
O’Neil, Kevin. (April 2003). “Summary Report: Discussion on Migration and Development: Using Remittances and Circular Migration as Drivers for Development.” Migration Information Source. Migration Policy Institute.
Stark, Oded and Robert E.B. Lucas. (1988). “Migration, Remittances and the Family.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 36 (3), 465-481.
$$ Ch. 5 in (WB) for overview discussion of remittances’ impact on poverty.
Barnham, Bradford and Stephen Boucher. (1998). “Migration, Remittances, and Inequality: Estimating the Net Effects of Migration on Income Distribution.” Journal of Development Economics 55: 307-31.
Itzigsohn, Jose. (1995). “Migrant Remittances, Labor Markets, and Households Strategies: A Comparative Analysis of Low-Income Households Strategies in the Caribbean Basin.” Social Forces 74 (1), 633-55.
SPRING BREAK
PART III
Institutions and First Generation Policy Response: Remittance Markets and Private/Financial Sector Institutions
Ch.5 in (IDB) for discussion of legal and institutional aspects of Latin American migrants’ access to the US financial system.
$$ Ch. 6 in (WB) for discussion of institutional market composition and reforms to reduce remittance fees.
$$ Part III (Ch. 8, *9, 10) in (MR) for discussion of credit union experience, efforts to deliver fair value and (optional) investment vehicles in Albania.
$$ Hernandez-Coss, Raul. (2005). “The U.S.-Mexico Remittance Corridor: Lessons On Shifting From Informal To Formal Transfer Systems.” World Bank Working Paper 47.
* $$ Hernandez-Coss, Raul. (2005). “The Canada-Vietnam Remittance Corridor: Lessons on Shifting From Informal to Formal Transfer Systems.” World Bank Working Paper 48.
* Maimbo, Samuel Munzeke. (July 2005). “Migrant labor remittances in the South Asia Region.” Access Finance 6. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Sander, Cerstin. (June 2003). “Migrant Remittances to Developing Countries, A Scoping Study: Overview and Introduction to Issues for Pro-Poor Financial Services.” Bannock Consulting Working Paper.
* $$ Suki, Lenora. (November 2004). “Financial Institutions and the Remittances Market in the Dominican Republic.” IDB Multilateral Investment Fund Remittance Studies.
$$ Suki, Lenora. “Financial Institutions, MTOs and Remittances in Latin America,” Latin Finance.
$$ Suro, R. S. Bendixen, B.L. Lowell and D.C. Benavides. (2002). “Billions in Motion: Latino Immigrants, Remittances and Banking”, Washington DC: Pew Hispanic Center and Multilateral Investment Fund Report.
Part II: Impact and Significance for Development: Poverty, Inequality and Brain Drain
$$ Adams, Richard H. Jr., Chapter 2 of (O). “Remittances, Poverty and Investment in Guatemala.”
$$ Adams, Richard H. Jr. and John Page. (2005). “Do International Migration and Remittances Reduce Poverty in Developing Countries?” World Development 33 (10): 1645-1669.
$$ Adams, Richard H. Jr. (2003). “International Migration, Remittances and the Brain Drain: A Study of 24 Labor-Exporting Countries.” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper no. 3069.
* $$ Adams, Richard H. Jr. (1989). “Worker Remittances and Inequality in Rural Egypt.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 38 (1): 45-71.
Part III: Institutions and First Generation Policy Response: Regulation and Public Sector Intervention
$$ Part IV (Ch. 11, 12, 13) in (MR) on increasing transparency in the market for remittances services, regulation of remittance markets and analysis of informal transfers.
De Luna Martínez, José. (2005). “Workers’ Remittances to Developing Countries: A Survey of Central Banks on Selected Public Policy Issues.” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3638.
$$ Hernandez-Coss, Raul. (2005). “The U.S.-Mexico Remittance Corridor: Lessons On Shifting From Informal To Formal Transfer Systems.” World Bank Working Paper 47. With March 21 readings.
* $$ Hernandez-Coss, Raul. (2005). “The Canada-Vietnam Remittance Corridor: Lessons on Shifting From Informal to Formal Transfer Systems.” World Bank Working Paper 48. With March 21 readings.
* United States Government Accountability Office. (2005). “International Remittances: Information on Products, Costs, and Consumer Disclosures” Report to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate, GAO-06-204.
Institutions and First Generation Policy Response: Overseas Development Cooperation
Carling, Jorgen. “Migrant Remittances and Development Cooperation.” Prio Report 1/2005 (International Peace Research Institute). Note: Especially focus on use of remittances and policy responses p. 30-56.
Inter American Development Bank. (2004) “Remittances To Latin America And The Caribbean: Goals And Recommendations.”
PART IV
Second Generation Policy Response: Microfinance and Entrepreneurship
$$ Ch. 6 in (IDB) for analysis of linkages between microfinance and remittances based on market research performed by ACCION.
Ch. 5 in (MR) for case study of Bangladesh and use of remittances for microenterprise.
$$ Hamilton, Eve and Manuel Orozco. “Remittances and MFI Intermediation: Issues and Lessons.”2005 Financial Sector Development Conference: New Partnerships for Innovation in Microfinance, June 23, 2005, Frankfurt.
* Fertziger, Ivana. (2004). “Making the Link: Channeling Mexico’s Remittance Receivers to Financial Services” A report prepared for the U.S. Agency for International Development, Mexico by a student at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.
* Massey and Parrado. (1998). “International Migration and Business Formation in Mexico.” Social Science Quarterly 79 (1), 1-20. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Woodruff, Christopher and Rene Zenteno. (2001). “Remittances and Microenterprises in Mexico.” Santa Cruz Center for International Economics Working Papers. UC Santa Cruz: Santa Cruz, CA.
David Grace. (2006). Summary of the e-Conference discussion on the benefits and risks of microfinance institutions offering money transfer services. Days 1-5.
Mesbah-Khavari, Dina, Anna Cora Evans, and Janette Klaehn. (2005). "Credit Union Remittance Services in Guatemala: Expanding the Access of Low-Income Remittance Recipients to Financial Institutions." USAid microREPORT #24.
Securitization of Remittance Flows
Chion, Max. “Banco del Trabajo Peru.” Presentation for the IDB Global Forum on Remittances.
Fitch Ratings. “Structured Finance in Latin America: A Look at Cross Border Remittance Securitizations.” Presentation for the IDB Global Forum on Remittances.
$$ Ketkar, Suhas and Ratha, Dilip. “Development Financing During A Crisis: Securitization of Future Receivables.” World Bank Economic Policy and Prospects Group. Washington, DC.
$$ Ratha, Dilip. “Securitization of Future Remittance Flows.” Presentation for the IDB Global Forum on Remittances.
Second Generation Policy Response: Housing and Payment Systems
Housing
* Harvard University Graduate School of Design Center for Urban Development Studies. (2000). “Housing Microfinance Initiatives: Synthesis and Regional Summary.” Washington, DC: Development Alternatives, Inc.
Sarageldin, Mona, Yves Cabannes, Elda Solloso and Luis Valenzuela. (2004) “Migratory Flows, Poverty, Social Inclusion in Latin America.” Prepared for World Bank Urban Research Symposium. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Graduate School of Design: Center for Urban Development Studies. Note: Presents a case study of the impact of migration and remittances on housing demand and real estate finance in Ecuador, as well as community level responses to migration and remittances.
Sociedad Hipotecaria Nacional. “Cross Border Mortgages 2005.” Presentation for the IDB Global Forum on Remittances.
Payment Systems
Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems. (2006) "General principles for international remittance services - consultative report." Bank for International Settlements and the World Bank.
Second Generation Policy Response: Migrant Participation in Local Economic Development
$$ Ch. 6 and 15 in (MR) on Philippines experience with vehicles and policy options for disapora and development and observations of migrant contributions to economic activity and development.
Newland, Kathleen. (2004). “Beyond Remittances: The Role of Diaspora in Poverty Reduction in their Countries of Origin.” Washington: Migration Policy Institute. www.migrationpolicy.org
$$ Orozco, Manuel. (2003). “Hometown Associations and their Present and Future Partnerships: New Development Opportunities?” Washington: Inter American Dialog.
Vertovec, Steven. (2004). “Migrants Transnationalism and Modes of Transformation.” International Migration Review 38 (3), 970-1001.