Development effects of remittances cannot be assumed

This new Hand Book of International Development draws together leading experts from a range of disciplines to examine key development questions. DIIS senior researcher Ninna Nyberg Sørensen contributes a chapter on ‘Migrants, Remittances and Hometown Associations in Promoting Development’.

The chapter reviews the main debates on the role of remittances and hometown associations (HTAs) for development. It considers the money migrants send back to developing countries, the individual and collective forms migrant transfers take, and the factors that influence the developmental impact of these transfers.

The chapter shows that whether remittances are sent by individuals or through HTAs and diaspora groups, the developmental outcomes of migrant transfers cannot be assumed. Increasing debt burdens (to pay for travel and recruitment costs), coupled with increasing levels of deportation, may have a reverse effect. Even when remittances have a positive effect on poverty reduction and economic growth, the impact may be modest, the redistributive effect may be lacking, and their steady flow cannot substitute for sound public policies in the countries of origin.

'The Palgrave Handbook of International Development' isedited by Jean Grugel and Daniel Hammett and features leading experts on development economics, geography, sociology, political science and international relations.

The Handbook examines development questions relating to the changing donor and aid landscape, the changing role of citizens and the state in development, the role of new finance flows and privatization in development, the challenges and opportunities of migration and mobility, emerging issues of insecurity and concerns with people trafficking, the drugs trade and gang violence, the role of rights and activism in promoting democracy and development, the threats posed by and responses to global environmental change, and the role of technology and innovation in promoting development.