In Malaysia, Indonesian migrants are showing an increasingly clear preference for informal transfer mechanisms compared to their counterparts in other countries. A little less than half of all ...Indonesian migrants overseasthought to be around 2 millionare working in Malaysia. An increasing number of migrants are women, and the corridor is also marked by a high number of undocumented migrants. Despite the increasing flows of migrants, only about 10 percent of the estimated flow of remittances into Indonesia from Malaysia is transferred through the formal system. The extent of the preference for the informal sector is unique in this corridor. Indonesian migrants in other countries are using the formal sector far more than the migrants in Malaysia. In addition, Indonesian women and undocumented migrants in Malaysia especially find formal sector transfers either hard to access or inappropriate for their needs. To this end, the study assists policymakers efforts to increase the impact of remittances on economic development and poverty reduction in Indonesia and to investigate options for attracting more migrants to use the formal financial sector. The report provides a descriptive overview of the MalaysiaIndonesia remittance corridor and suggests policy avenues for improving access to formal remittance transfer channels; increasing the transparency of the flows and the cost structure; and facilitating remittance transfers, particularly for undocumented and female migrant workers.
This study is the first research work on remittances conducted in Nigeria and reveals the actual state of its remittance market. The report describes how United Kingdom residents of Nigerian origin ...transfer remittances home and how the funds are distributed to their beneficiaries in Nigeria. The review presents the remittance industry conditions existing in the UKNigeria remittance corridor at the origination and distribution stages of the transactions, and the intermediaries who facilitate the transfers. The report makes conclusions and compares these main findings with lessons from other corridors. The UK-Nigeria remittance corridor has an equal dominance of formal and informal remittance intermediaries. Although several formal financial institutions for transferring money exist in the UK, many people choose to send money informally. More collaboration between the UK and Nigeria is necessary to develop the remittance market, to encourage the use of formal channels, and to enhance the development potential. Among its benefits, the remittance country partnership (RCP) between UK and Nigeria aims to reduce the cost of remittance transfers. The Nigerian government is engaging its diaspora to help spur economic growth. This report recommends that each government focus on improving data collection at its end of the corridor and do more research to provide its policymakers and its private sector with accurate information.
This study reports on recent development
and future potential for U.S.-based Guatemalan workers
cross-border retail transfers to be more formal, cheaper,
and disposed to the cross-sale of financial ...products and
services. It also presents the key features of remittances
senders, recipients, instruments, and intermediaries
involved. The paper focuses on three areas: (a) the main
characteristics of the Guatemalan migrants in the United
States and the key drivers behind their decision to remit
money and to choose an intermediary; (b) financial
infrastructure supporting U.S.-Guatemala remittances
processing, especially the role of technology, payment
systems and innovations going forward, as avenues to help
lower transaction costs, among others; and (c) the landscape
of workers remittances distribution in Guatemala, examines
the characteristics of recipients and the evidence of
remittances impact, and analyzes the indications of
potential for cross-sale of financial services to recipients.
Serbia has become one of the largest remittance-recipient countries in the world. It is estimated that in 2004 Serbia received US2.4 billion dollars in remittances from Serbian workers in Germany, ...the United States, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and other countries. This amount represented 12 percent of Serbias GDP. This report provides an overview of remittance flows from Germany to Serbia and analyzes why a large part of remittance transfers take place outside financial institutions. The study presents a series of recommendations on needed policy changes to facilitate the transfer of remittance flows from the informal channels to licensed or registered financial institutions, thereby maximizing the developmental impact of remittances, reducing remittances fees, improving data collection practices, and strengthening the regulation and supervision of themoney transfer industry.
This paper uses a stochastic dynamic general equilibrium model to investigate the influence of countercyclical remittances on the conduct of fiscal and monetary policy and trace their effects on real ...and nominal variables in a business cycle setting. We show that remittances raise disposable income and consumption, and insure against income shocks, thereby raising household welfare. However, remittances increase the correlation between labor and output, thereby producing a more volatile business cycle and increasing output and labor market risk. Optimal monetary policy in the presence of remittances deviates from the Friedman rule, highlighting the need for independent government policy instruments.
Leveraging Migration for Africa Dilip Ratha, Sanket Mohapatra, Caglar Ozden, Sonia Plaza, William Shaw, Abebe Shimeles
2011, 04-26-2011, 2011-04-26, 20110101
eBook, Book
Odprti dostop
A joint effort led by the African Development Bank and the World Bank, 'Leveraging Migration for Africa' is the first comprehensive publication on harnessing migration, remittances, and other ...diaspora resources for the development of Africa. It comes at a time when countries in Africa and elsewhere are grappling with difficult choices on how to manage migration.Policy makers can help leverage the contributions of migrants to the development of Africa, reduceremittance costs, improve the efficiency of remittance markets in both origin and destination countries, and address the needs of the origin countries without restricting the emigration of high-skilled professionals. Innovative financing mechanisms such as issuance of diaspora bonds and securitization of future remittance flows can help finance big-ticket projects, such as railways, roads, power plants, and institutions of higher learning that will, step by step, help to transform Africa. This volume contributes to a greater understanding of migration and its potential role in Africa?s development.
This paper creates the first dataset of bilateral remittance flows for a limited set of developing countries and estimates a gravity model for workers' remittances. We find that most of the variation ...in bilateral remittance flows can be explained by a few gravity variables. The evidence on the motives to remit is mixed, but altruism may be less of a factor than commonly believed. Most strikingly, remittances do not seem to increase in the wake of a natural disaster and appear aligned with the business cycle in the home country, suggesting that remittances may not play a major role in limiting vulnerability to shocks. To encourage remittances and maximize their economic impact, policies should be directed at reducing transaction costs, promoting financial sector development, and improving the business climate.
The political economy of migrant remittances Lartey, Emmanuel K. K.
Economic notes - Monte Paschi Siena,
November 2019, 2019-11-00, 20191101, Letnik:
48, Številka:
3
Journal Article
This report, Remittance Corridors to Uganda: United Kingdom, United States, and South Africa, analyzes and compares three bilateral remittance corridors. The comparison highlights similarities and ...differences and the significance of the remittance-sending countries to Uganda in terms of volume, corridor formality, risks, and vulnerability to money laundering. It also describes Uganda as a remittance-receiving country and outlines the remittance flows, market players, distribution network, access and usage of remittance, regulatory framework, and measures taken toward anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). The issues and challenges faced by Uganda are identified and policy recommendations are made for both Uganda and remittance-sending countries.
