Publications

The Malaysia - Indonesia Remittance Corridor. The World Bank, by Raul Hernandez-Coss, Gillian Brown, Chitrawati Buchori, Wameek Noor and Tita Navaolitha. Forthcoming.

Migration & Remittances Factbook 2008.  A snapshot of migration and remittances data for all countries, regions and income groups of the world, compiled from available data from various sources. The World Bank. March, 2008.

Remittances and development: lessons from Latin America . Workers' remittances have become a major source of financing for developing countries. This book explores, in the specific context of Latin America and Caribbean countries, some of the main questions faced by policymakers when trying to respond to increasing remittances flows. The World Bank, by Pablo Fajnzylber and J. Humberto Lopez. February 2008.

Migration and Development Brief 3: Remittance Trends 2007.  The brief describes broad regional and country specific trends in remittance flows worldwide, and highlights some structural changes that will affect future flows. The World Bank, By Dilip Ratha, Sanket Mohapatra, K. M. Vijayalakshmi, Zhimei Xu. November 30, 2007.

The United Kingdom - Nigeria Remittance Corridor: Challenges of Embracing Formal Transfer Systems in a Dual Financial Environment. The World Bank, by Raul Hernandez-Coss, Chinyere Egwuagu Bun. July 2007

What is the Impact of International Remittances on Poverty and Inequality in Latin America? This paper contributes to the literature on the effects of remittances on poverty and inequality along several dimensions, using both aggregate country-level data and nationally representative household surveys for ten Latin American and Caribbean (Latin American hereafter) countries. The World Bank, by Pablo Acosta, Cesar Calderón, Pablo Fajnzylber and Humberto Lopez. June 2007.

The United States-Guatemala Remittance Corridor: Understanding Better the Drivers of Remittances Intermediation. The World Bank, by Hela Cheikhrohou, Rodrigo Jarque, Raul Hernandez-Coss and Radwa El-Swaify. February 2007

The impact of remittances on labor supply: the case of Jamaica. This paper examines aspects of the labor supply in an effort to understand why high rates of unemployment have existed with increasing real wages. This is a sign of a badly functioning labor market. The cross-sectional analysis suggests that remittances have some impact on labor supply, especially on labor market participation. The World Bank, by Kim, Namsuk. 2007.

Migration and Remittances: Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. This report traces the trends of international migration and remittances in the region. The report also looks at international migration policy in the region and how current bilateral migration schemes can be improved. The World Bank, by Ali Mansoor and Bryce Quillin. January 2007.

Remittances and Economic Development in Somalia: An Overview. This collection of papers examines the role and impact of the remittance system in a country that has been without a government for over a decade, and is today a failed state and among the poorest in the world. The World Bank, by Samuel Munzele Maimbo. November 2006.

Can migration reduce educational attainment? Evidence from Mexico. This paper examines the impact of migration on educational attainment in rural Mexico . Using historical migration rates by state to instrument for current migration, we find evidence of a significant negative effect of migration on schooling attendance and attainment of 12 to 18 year-old boys and 16 to 18 year-old girls. The World Bank, by David McKenziea and Hillel Rapoport. June 2006.

The Development Impact of Workers’ Remittances in Latin America . Workers’ remittances have become a major source of financing for developing countries, and are especially important in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), which is at the top of the ranking of remittances receiving regions in the world. Remittances in LAC represent about 70 percent of Foreign Direct Investment and are five times larger than Official Development Assistance. The World Bank. August 2006.

Do Workers’ Remittances Promote Financial Development?  This paper uses data on workers’ remittance flows to 99 developing countries during 1975-2003 to study the impact of remittances on financial sector development. In particular, the authors examine whether remittances contribute to increasing the aggregate level of deposits and credit intermediated by the local banking sector. The World Bank, by Reena Aggarwal, Asli Demirgüç-Kunt, and Maria Soledad Martinez Peria. July 2006.

The Germany-Serbia Remittance Corridor – Challenges of Establishing a Formal Money Transfer System. This report analyzes and examines why remittance flows take place outside the financial system and presents a series of practical recommendations to promote the use of financial institutions to transfer money home, reduce fees, encourage greater competition which will enhance the developmental impact of remittances, and improve the regulation and integrity of the money transfer industry. The World Bank, by José De Luna Martínez, Isaku Endo and Corrado Barberis. May 2006.

Labor Supply, School attendance and Remittances from International Migration: The case of El Salvador . This publication explores the impact of international remittances on households in El Salvador. The World Bank, by Pablo Acosta. April 2006.

The Italy-Albania Remittance Corridor: Shifting from the Physical Transfer of Cash to a Formal Money Transfer Systems. The World Bank, by Raul Hernandez-Coss, Jose de Luna Martinez, Andrea Amatuzio, Kamil Borowik and Federico Lagi . March 2006.

Remittance Service Providers in the United States: How remittance firms operate and how they perceive their business environment.  This paper presents the findings of a survey of 73 remittance firms in 6 U.S. states, where company executives were interviewed in person. The paper finds that the largest obstacles to doing business that remittance firms face are related to obtaining bank accounts, licensing and bond requirements, and competition from the informal sector.  Along with obtaining licenses, building agent networks and compliance systems are seen as the major barriers to entry into the remittance business.The World Bank, by Ole E. Andreassen.

Remittances and Poverty in Ghana. This paper uses a large, nationally-representative household survey to analyze the impact of internal remittances (from Ghana) and international remittances (from African and other countries) on poverty in Ghana. The World Bank, by Richard H. Adams Jr. February 2006.

Sri Lanka's Migrant Labor Remittances: Enhancing the Quality and Outreach of the Rural Remittance Infrastructure. This paper complements the existing literature on migrant labor remittances to South Asia and extends that literature by providing specific policy-relevant guidance on short and long-term policies for enhancing the quality and outreach of rural remittance infrastructure. The World Bank World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 3789, by Esperanza Lasagabaster, Samuel Munzele Maimbo and Sriyani M. Hulugalle. December 2005.

Global Economic Prospects 2006: Economic Implications of Remittances and Migration. This year’s edition of Global Economic Prospects focuses on the flow of international migrant remittances and improving their development impact. It presents available data on migration flows and examines current thinking on issues pertaining to migration and its development impact. The World Bank. November 2005.

International Migration, Remittances, and the Brain Drain. International migration has enormous economic, social and cultural implications in both origin and destination countries. This publication examines the determinants of migration, the impact of remittances and migration on poverty, welfare, and investment decisions, and the consequences of brain drain, brain gain, and brain waste. The World Bank, by Maurice Schiff and Çaglar Özden. October 2005.

Remittances and Poverty in Migrants’ Home Areas: Evidence from the Philippines. This chapter exploits a unique natural experiment that helps identify the causal impact of remittances on poverty in migrants’ origin households and, more broadly, in remittance-receiving areas. The World Bank, by Dean Yang and Claudia A. Martínez. October 2005.

Migrant Labor Remittances in South Asia. This paper provides a strategic overview of key issues relating to the remittance industry in the South Asia region. The World Bank, by Samuel Munzele Maimbo, Richard H. Adams, Jr., Reena Aggarwal and Nikos Passas. June 2005 .

Remittances: Development Impact and Future Prospects. This book demonstrates that governments in developing countries increasingly recognize the importance of remittance flows and are quickly addressing these constraints. Preview: Workers’ Remittances to Developing Countries: A Survey with Central Banks on Selected Public Policy Issues. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3638, by Samuel Munzele Maimbo and Dilip Ratha, June 2005.

Do International Migration and Remittances Reduce Poverty in Developing Countries? Do International Migration and Remittances Reduce Poverty in Developing Countries? Few studies have examined the impact of international migration and remittances on poverty in the developing world. This paper fills this lacuna by constructing and analyzing a new data set on international migration, remittances, inequality, and poverty from 71 developing countries. The World Bank, by Richard H. Adams Jr. and John Page. May 2005.

The Canada-Vietnam Remittance Corridor – Lessons on Shifting from Informal to Formal Transfer Systems. This paper examines the experience of the Canada-Vietnam Remittance Corridor over the past several years. Lessons for other remittance sending and receiving countries that seek to encourage formalization of the flows. The World Bank, by Raúl Hernández-Coss. April 2005.

The U.S.- Mexico Remittance Corridor - Lessons on Shifting from Informal to Formal Transfer Systems. This paper describes recent developments in the U.S.-Mexico corridor, as worker remittances have shifted from informal to formal channels, and identifies areas within the corridor that could be further developed to continue the momentum and enhance its development potential. The World Bank, by Raúl Hernández-Coss. February 2005.

Migration, Remittances and Development. This publication presents the current situation with regard to the magnitude and economic impact of migrants’ remittances to their countries of origin. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). November 2005.

Lessons from the US-Mexico Remittances Corridor on Shifting from Informal to Formal Transfer Systems.  The case study seeks to contribute to the growing literature on remittance transfer systems and tries to underline the importance of the remittance flows to global development. Additionally, it emphasizes the need to create an adequate balance between the regulatory framework and the creation of incentives that foster the use of formal fund transfer systems. The World Bank, by Raúl Hernández-Coss. November 2004.

Understanding the Importance of Remittances. This article explores ways to improve on the knowledge and impact of remittances in development. The World Bank, by Dilip Ratha. October 2004.

Remittances and Poverty in Guatemala. Analyzes the impact of internal remittances (from Guatemala) and international remittances (from the United States) on poverty in Guatemala. The World Bank, by Richard H. Adams Jr. September 2004.

The Regulation and Supervision of Informal Remittance Systems: Emerging Oversight Strategies. This paper is a review of the recent regulatory and supervisory economic literature on informal remittance systems and discusses the emerging differences in approach to dealing with this phenomenon. By Samuel Munzele Maimbo. November 2004.

International Migration, Remittances and Poverty in Developing Countries. This paper tries to fill this lacuna by constructing a new data set on poverty, international migration and remittances for 74 low and middle-income developing countries. The World Bank, by Richard H. Adams, Jr. and John Page. December 2003.

Informal Funds Transfer Systems An Analysis of the Informal Hawala System. A Joint IMF–World Bank Paper, by Mohammed El Qorchi, Samuel Munzele Maimbo and John F. Wilson. August 2003.

Workers’ Remittances: An Important and Stable Source of External Development Finance. This chapter examines the relative importance of workers’ remittances as a source of development finance and discusses measures that industrial and developing countries could take to increase remittances. The World Bank, by Dilip Ratha. April 2003.

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