Migrant remittances provide a lifeline to the poor in many countries.

Migration and remittances will continue to increase with globalization.

The policy agenda on remittances and that on migration overlap a great deal,

but the overlap is not complete. Remittances provide the most tangible and least controversial link

between migration and development.

I have tried to summarize the International Remittances Agenda in this chart and this paper.

For the latest data on remittances, migration, estimates of bilateral flows for over 200 countries,

and other useful resources, see World Bank Prospects Group website.

People move: a blog on migration, remittances, and development

NEW! – The effects of financial crisis on remittance flows. November 2008

Books

NEW BOOK: Innovative Financing for Development

For more information, and a pdf version of the book, read my blog. A book launch and panel discussion on innovative financing took place on October 9, 2008, on the sidelines of the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings.

This book argues that poor countries need additional, cross-border capital channeled to the private sector for employment generation, growth, and poverty reduction. For that, innovative financing mechanisms are necessary. The volume brings together various market-based innovative methods of raising development finance including securitization of future flow receivables (including remittances), diaspora bonds, and the role of shadow sovereign ratings in facilitating access to international capital markets.

Migration and Remittances Factbook 2008. World Bank, (with Xu), March 2008. An online version for individual countries, regions, and income groups is available at www.worldbank.org/prospects/migrationandremittances.

Global Economic Prospects 2006: Economic Implications of Remittances and Migration. World Bank, (with Shaw), November 2005.

South-South Migration and Remittances. World Bank, (with Shaw), June 2007 (Purchase)

(Data on bilateral migration stocks and remittance flows for over 200 countries)

Remittances: Development Impact and Future Prospects. World Bank, (with Maimbo), June 2005.

Articles

“Leveraging Remittances for Development,” MPI Policy Brief, June 2007

“Leveraging Remittances for International Capital Market Access,” World Bank, November 2005.

“On Reducing Remittance Costs,” World Bank, May 2005.

“Reducing Remittance Fees,” Global Economic Prospects 2006.

“Why should we care about workers’ remittances? And what should we do?” Note presented at the Expert Meeting of the Global Commission on International Migration, Geneva, January 20-21, 2004

“Why Should Financial Institutions Care About Remittances?” (notes for a presentation), March 2007

“Increasing the Macroeconomic Impact of Remittances on Development,” Presented at the G8 Outreach Meeting on Remittances, Berlin, November 28-30, 2007. The Federal Ministry of Finance, Germany prepared an excellent photo journal after the meeting.

“Remittances: A Lifeline for Development,” Finance and Development, Back to Basics, December 2005.

“Sending Money Home: Trends in Migrant Remittances,” Finance and Development, Picture This, December 2005.

“Trends, Determinants, and Macroeconomic Effects of Remittances,” Global Economic Prospects 2006.

“Remittances, Households, and Poverty,” Global Economic Prospects 2006.

“Recent Advances in Future-Flow Securitization,” The Financier. December 2005.

“Understanding the Importance of Remittances,” World Migration 2005, IOM.

“Migrant Remittances in Central America,” Chapter in Central America: Structural Foundations for Regional Financial Integration,” edited by Patricia Brenner, International Monetary Fund, 2006.

“Development Finance via Diaspora Bonds: Track Record and Potential,” June 2007

"Workers' Remittances: An Important and Stable Source of External Development Finance," Global Development Finance 2003, Chapter 7.