Books about Remittances from Amazon.com

Whereas workers remittances have become a major source of financing for Latin America and the Caribbean, there is still limited evidence on the development impact of those flows across the main recipient countries in the region. To help fill this gap, Remittances and Development: Lessons from Latin America combines the analysis of cross-country panel data with that of household surveys for as many as 11 countries. Among other issues, this book investigates the profile of Latin American migrants and remittances recipients, and analyzes the impact of those flows on growth, poverty, inequality, schooling, labor supply, financial development, and real exchange rates. One of the main conclusions of the study conducted in Remittances and Development: Lessons from Latin America is that remittances do tend to reduce poverty and inequality and they have several positive growth-enhancing effects e.g. higher savings, human capital investments, entrepreneurship, and bank deposits. However, these positive effects tend be relatively modest compared to the development challenges faced by most countries in the region. Moreover, remittances can also reduce labor supply and lead to real exchange rate over-valuations. Overall, according to the book, it appears that a healthy policy stance is that of combining measures to minimize negative effects on competitiveness, with a focus on complementary growth-enhancing policies and improvements in the regulatory environment aimed at promoting secure and low cost remittances services..
Price: $27.01 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"Defining borders is a complex task, especially today as globalization accelerates at an unprecedented rate. We have entered a transnational age, one in which borders are more porous." So says Kimberly M. Grimes in Crossing Borders: Changing Social Identities in Southern Mexico, her investigation of migration to the United States from Putla de Guerrero, Oaxaca. Featuring testimonies of residents and migrants, Grimes allows local voices to describe the ways in which Putlecans find themselves negotiating among competing social values. The testaments of the Putlecans indicate that the changes occurring in their small town as a result of the circular migration to and from such immigrant enclaves as Atlantic City, New Jersey, are viewed with mixed emotions. Putlecans recognize the financial need to migrate north but they rue the increased consumerism, pollution, and trash that comes with the rising wealth. Men show off by driving their fancy cars with New Jersey tags around the tiny Mexican town, but influenced by Anglo culture, they also provide greater assistance in child care and housework. Women find the sexual and social freedoms of the United States liberating, but they still return home to baptize their babies. Grimes reminds us, however, that the Putlecans are not passive recipients of change but are actively embracing it, creating it, and mediating it. By reaching across the border to investigate migration, Grimes shows us that social and cultural change are not just the result of national and transnational influences, but are also locally negotiated phenomena..
Price: $8.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

For some time in diaspora studies, attention to remittances has overshadowed the growing impact of emigrant groups both within the social and political arenas in their homelands and with regard to fundamental economic development. The authors of "Diasporas and Development" redress this imbalance, focusing on three core issues: the responses of diasporas to homeland conflicts, strategies for mobilizing effective homeland investment, and the positive role of direct diaspora participation in development efforts.The book combines detailed case studies with theoretical frameworks to provide a valuable foundation for further research.It explores the growing impact of emigrant groups both in the social and political arenas in their homelands and with regard to fundamental economic development..
Price: $34.20 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The Migration and Remittances Factbook 2008 attempts to present numbers and facts behind the stories of international migration and remittances, drawing on authoritative, publicly available data. It provides a snapshot of statistics on immigration, emigration, skilled emigration, and remittance flows for 194 countries, and 13 regional and income groups. Some interesting facts from the Factbook: Nearly 200 million people or 3 percent of the world population live outside their countries of birth. Current migration flows, relative to population, are weaker than those of the last decades of the nineteenth century. The volume of South--South migration is almost as large as that of South--North migration. International migration is dominated by voluntary migration, which is driven by economic factors. In 2005, refugees numbered only 13.5 million, or just over 7 percent of international migrants. The share of refugees in the population of low-income countries was more than five times larger than the share in high-income OECD countries. Worldwide remittance flows are estimated to have exceeded $318 billion in 2007, of which developing countries received $240 billion. The true size including unrecorded flows through formal and informal channels, is believed to be significantly larger..
Price: $22.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Remittances (what migrants send back to their home countries) are important not only for the families who receive them but also for the poorest developing countries This book develops an Overlapping Generations model of households with residences in two countries to explore how remittances may be saved for retirement, used to finance investment in housing, schooling, or for consumption. The book uses the estimation framework of Gruben and McLeod (1998), and Mody and Murshid (2002) to study the impact of remittances on Gross National Savings, Investment, and on school enrollments. The results appear to be consistent with the model as, for example, it is shown that Remittances positively-although differently-affect the primary and secondary school enrollment of boys and girls. The conclusion discusses the new ways of measuring remittances and explores how "social remittances" can have an impact in local community development. Students of development issues and policies will find the topic of remittances interesting and appealing; those interested in gender issues in developing countries will find the results presented in this book both encouraging and challenging..
Price: $63.36 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Publication of this book is especially important for my country because our economy depends to a large extent on the remittances of overseas workers. We are particularly interested in the new technologies cited by the authors. These technologies would reduce the cost of remitting money to recipient countries and greatly benefit our workers abroad. Kudos to the World Bank for publishing this comprehensive and useful book. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo President, Republic of the Philippines Readers will find his book an enthralling reminder of the indissoluble financial links that bind migrants to their home countries. These financial links need to be encouraged and sustained by supportive macroeconomic policies. Tito Mboweni Governor, Reserve Bank of South Africa An excellent examination of the global remittances policy agenda, Remittances: Development Impact and Future Prospects is a timely and exciting resource for academics, development institutions, central banks, and all policy makers in developed and developing countries. Hernando de Soto President, Institute for Liberty and Democracy New research shows the astonishing scope of remittances, with formally documented flows now estimated at $90 billion for 2003. Globally, remittances now constitute the largest source of financial flows to developing countries after Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and indeed in many countries they now exceed FDI flows. Remittances explores policy options for enhancing the poverty alleviation impact of remittance money in recipient countries, and addressees concerns about increasing migration and inequality. It looks at new technologies that allow remittance service providers to reduce direct transaction costs and open new channels, enhancing convenience for remitters and improving levels of transparency and accountability for regulators and policy makers. Importantly, it also establishes a baseline for further research and collaborative effort, showing the areas where the international financial institutions, particularly the World Bank, can add value to enhance the positive impact of remittance flows and minimize less welcome effects. Edited by Samuel Munzele Maimbo, who has already published authoritative articles on this subject, and Dilip Ratha, who first revealed the global significance of remittances, this book is intended for remittance service providers, as well as policy makers and researchers interested in financial sector, migration and development issues..
Price: $28.39 [Notify me when price goes down.]

International migration has become a central element of international relations and global integration due to its rapidly increasing economic, social, and cultural impact in both source and destination countries. This book provides new evidence on the impact of migration and remittances on several development indicators, including innovative thinking about the nexus between migration and birth rates. In addition, the book identifies the effect of host country policies on migration flows, examines the determinants of return and repeat migration, and explores the degree of success of return migrants upon return to their country of origin..
Price: $12.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In our globalizing world, the movement of people and resources has accelerated, giving rise to transnational connections and interdependencies. New Patterns for Mexico examines novel and emerging patterns of United States giving to Mexico and its impact on equitable development. Last year alone, Mexican migrants living in the United States sent billions of dollars back to families and relatives living in Mexico. Most of these funds were for private consumption, but more and more diaspora resources support social and philanthropic endeavors in their country of origin. This bilingual volume asks: What are these new patterns of diaspora giving and how do they affect equitable development in Mexico?

Through its Global Philanthropy Program, the Global Equity Initiative of Harvard University aims to advance knowledge about global philanthropy and the role of private philanthropic investments in furthering global equity. This volume, one in a series on diaspora giving, builds upon the earlier work of Diaspora Philanthropy: Perspectives on India and China and continues the Program's research series on the relationship between diaspora engagement and equitable development.

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Price: $9.72 [Notify me when price goes down.]