Remittances and the Caribbean Experience

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Remittances and the Caribbean Experience

• Regional Seminar on Migrants Money Remittances
  An Alternative for Latin America and the
  Caribbean?
• SELA and CAF
• Caracas, July 26-27, 2004
• Elizabeth Thomas-Hope
• University of the West Indies
• Mona, Jamaica

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Top Ten Remittance Recipients Among Developing
Countries, 2001
The data for India is from 2000
Source International Monetary Fund, Balance of
Payments Yearbook 2002, Migration Information
Source.
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Remittance Dependence of Selected Countries, 2001
Remittance levels for Haiti are as estimated by
the Inter-American Development Bank.
Source International Monetary Fund, Balance of
Payments Yearbook 2002 Migration Information
Source World Bank, World Development Indicators
2002.
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Official Worker Remittances Received in Selected
Labor-exporting Countries 1981 - 2002
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Contd
Sources International Monetary Fund, Balance of
payments Yearbook (various issues
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Assumptions ?

• That one can predict volume of remittance flows
  will be positively associated with
• volume of out-migration ?
• volume of return ?

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Immigrants Admitted to the United States By
Country of Birth 1987 - 2002
Source US Immigration and Naturalization
Services Statistical Yearbook of the Immigration
and Naturalization Service, 1997
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Caribbean Immigrants admitted in the
USA(selected years)

• 1990 2000 2002
• Caribbean 115,351 88,198 96,489
• Dom.Rep. 42,195 17,536 22,604
• Haiti 20,324 22,364 20,268
• Jamaica 25,013 16,000 14,898
• Trin. Tobago 6,740 6,660 5,771

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• What are the trends in out-migration and return
  migration?
• Take the case of Jamaica, for example,
  remittance flows have been increasing even though
  volume of emigration and return have been
  decreasing.

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Return Migrants to Jamaica (1992-2002)

• 1992 1552
• 1993 2359
• 1994 2585
• 1995 2353
• 1996 2349
• 1997 2094
• 1998 1875
• 1999 1765
• 2000 1282
• 2001 1117
• 2002 1105
• 2003 1180

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• Percentages of Return Migrants to Jamaica by
  country of last residence (totals for 1993-2002)
• UK 43
• USA 39
• Canada 11.9
• Others 5.8

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• Important questions in understanding the
  association between volume of remittance flows
  and migration patterns
• What type of migrant remits most ?
• at what stage(s) of the migration cycle ?

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What types of migrants/stage in migration cycle
remit most/least ?

• Retired persons ?
• Persons in the labour force on return
• Long-stay short-stay transnational
• Unskilled/low level skilled, high level
  professional student..

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REMITTANCES (US ) TO JAMAICA FROM THE U.S.A. Of
Occupational Category and Sex of Worker (2002)
Source Jamaican Ministry of Labour and Social
Security Statistical Bulletin 2002
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Distribution of Remittances Received Monthly Rio
Grande Valley sample, Jamaica (2002)
Ishemo, 2004
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Household Remittance Receipts Rio Grande Valley
sample (2003)
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Household Expenditure of Cash Remittances Rio
Grande Valley sample, Jamaica (2002)
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The Jamaica Gleaner
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Return Professionals to Jamaica Financial
Transfers and Financial Security

• Returning professionals in this study did not
• remit or transfer substantial sums of money
• from their previous country of residence to
• Jamaica either prior to their return or
• subsequently.
• Only 20 of the persons in
• the study indicated that they transferred
• what they regarded to be relatively large
• sums at the time of returning.

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Return Professionals to JamaicaSocial Security /
Pension Payments

• Almost 50 the number of persons in the
• sample population would be entitled to
• social security payments from the country
• of their former residence abroad and or
• state pension when they reached
• retirement age, even if they remained in
• Jamaica until they retired

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Return Professionals to Jamaica Investment

• 82.9 of the Sample currently tended to
• invest in Jamaica more than they did
• abroad

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• What is the nature of transnational households ?
• Eg.
• All the returnees of a sample of high level
  professionals to Jamaica held a Jamaican
  passport, in the main because of their sense of,
  and commitment to, being Jamaican
• 58 had dual citizenship and held a passport of
  another country as well as a Jamaican passport
  (others held a Green Card for the USA)

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What are the other incentives/ disincentives
to the sending high levels of remittances ?

• The environment in the host and especially in the
  home country - eg
• Liberal financial sector
• Attractiveness for investment
• Attractiveness for return (security/health
  educational services)

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Implications

• Policies for optimizing remittance flows and
  development impact must be based on the
  development of high confidence levels and a
  liberal migration environment
• the identification of effective incentives geared
  to the different migrant/return migrant target
  groups. These would include
• financial incentives, investment
  opportunities eg in health, education welfare,
• - security.