Migration from one area to another in search of improved livelihood is a key feature of human history. While some regions and sectors fall behind in their capacity to support populations, other move ahead and people migrate to access these emerging opportunities. Industrialization widens the gap between rural and urban areas, including a shift of the workforce towards industrializing areas. There is extensive debate on the factors that causes population to shift from those that emphasize individual rationality and household behavior to those that cite the structural logic of capitalist development.

Few studies have examined the impact of international migration and remittances on poverty in a broad cross-section of developing countries. The authors try to fill this gap by constructing a new data set on poverty, international migration, and remittances for 74 low- and middle-income developing countries. Four key findings emerge: 1) International migration-defined as the share of a country's population living abroad-has a strong, statistical impact in reducing poverty. On average, a 10 percent increase in the share of international migrants in a country's population will lead to a 1.9 percent decline in the share of people living in poverty ($1.00 a person a day). 2) Distance to a major labor-receiving region-like the United States or OECD (Europe)-has an important effect on international migration. Developing countries that are located closest to the United States or OECD (Europe) are also those countries with the highest rates of migration. 3) An inverted U-shaped curve exists between the level of country per capita income and international migration. Developing countries with low or high per capita GDP produce smaller shares of international migrants than do middle-income developing countries. The authors find no evidence that developing countries with higher levels of poverty produce more migrants. Because of considerable travel costs associated with international migration, international migrants come from those income groups which are just above the poverty line in middle-income developing countries. 4) International remittances-defined as the share of remittances in country GDP-have a strong, statistical impact in reducing poverty. On average, a 10 percent increase in the share of international remittances in a country's GDP will lead to a 1.6 percent decline in the share of people living in poverty.

"Migration and Remittances : Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union analyzes the history of international migration flows since the start of the transition and lays out the basic tenets of policy interventions that can enhance the gains from both sides of the equation, at the micro as well as the macro level. Migration and Remittances is a must read for policy makers, labor and international economists, and civil society specialists who have an interest in social analysis and policies, and poverty reduction strategies."--Résumé de l'éditeur.

International migration, the movement of people across international boundaries, has enormous economic, social and cultural implications in both origin and destination countries. It is estimated that some one hundred and eighty million people (three per cent of the world's population) are living in countries in which they were not born. Among these are millions of highly-educated people who moved to developed countries from developing countries that already suffer from low levels of human capital and skilled workers. Moreover, the flow of formal remittances from migrants to their relatives in their countries of birth has exhibited a very rapid and accelerating rate of growth. Estimated to exceed one hundred billion dollars annually, remittances surpass foreign aid and account for the largest source of foreign capital for dozens of countries. This timely volume provides an in-depth examination of the relationship between - and the impacts on - migration, remittances and development. Using new household surveys and census data, the determinants of migration and the impact of migration and remittances on various measures of welfare are analyzed. Other issues discussed include the migration of skilled workers, the impact of international students and skilled migration in the United States, the determinants of internal and international migration from rural areas whilst providing a critical examination of the new 'brain drain' literature.

Manuel Orozco moves beyond the numbers to provide a uniquely comprehensive, historically informed overview and analysis of the complex role of migrant remittances in the global economy. How do patterns of migration and remittances differ across regions? What kinds of regulatory and institutional frameworks best support the contributions of remittances to local development? What has been the impact of remittances on migrants and their families? Drawing on empirical data from five continents and firmly grounded in theory, Orozco¿s work reflects the evolution of our understanding about the importance of migrant remittances and the policies that govern them.

Based On A Servey Of Around 4000 Sample Households In Bihar, This Study Is An Important Contritbution To The Understanding Of The Causes And Consequences Of Migration. It Will Be Interesting And Useful Not Only For Social Scientists Working In The Area Of Migration Research, But Also For Interested Professionals And Policy Makers.

International migration, the movement of people across international boundaries to improve economic opportunity, has enormous implications for growth and welfare in both origin and destination countries. An important benefit to developing countries is the receipt of remittances or transfers from income earned by overseas emigrants. Official data show that development countries' remittance receipts totaled 160 billion in 2004, more than twice the size of official aid. This year's edition of Global Economic Prospects focuses on remittances and migration. The bulk of the book covers remittances.

Migrants have long faced unwarranted constraints to sending money to family members and relatives in their home countries, among them costly fees and commissions, inconvenient formal banking hours, and inefficient domestic banking services that delay final payment to the beneficiaries. Yet such remittances are perhaps the largest source of external finance in developing countries. Officially recorded remittance flows to developing countries exceeded US$125 billion in 2004, making them the second largest source of development finance after foreign direct investment. This book demonstrates that governments in developing countries increasingly recognize the importance of remittance flows and are quickly addressing these constraints.

Remittances are an integral feature of the internal migration process in China. According to a report released by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, in 2005 China's rural migrants sent nearly US$ 30 billion back home to their families. The significance of domestic remittances becomes even more evident when the large numbers of people receiving remittances are taken into account. Owing to the shorter travel distances, the lower cost of labour market entry and the larger volume of domestic migrants relative to international migrants, domestic remittances are likely to benefit more poor people than international money transfers. Clearly, in the case of China, remittances have greatly improved the incomes of rural populations. In order to understand the contributions remittances can make to development and the ways in which potential benefits may be enhanced, there are several questions that need to be answered. For instance, how are such funds distributed within and across regions? What channels are used to send money to the rural areas? Who are the people in the rural community receiving the money? Why do some migrants fail to remit? How are remittances spent? And, what are the policy implications of how the money is distributed, remitted and used? This report draws on a rich body of English and Chinese literature to find answers to these questions. Book jacket.