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Making Migrant‐Government Partnerships Work: Insights from the Logic of Collective Action
Author(s) -
FLORESMACÍAS GUSTAVO A.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
political science quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1538-165X
pISSN - 0032-3195
DOI - 10.1002/j.1538-165x.2012.tb00733.x
Subject(s) - latin americans , government (linguistics) , neoliberalism (international relations) , collective action , state (computer science) , politics , political science , sociology , law , philosophy , linguistics , algorithm , computer science
ESTIMATED AT US$325 BILLION IN 2010, migrants’ remittances have been called “a lifeline for the poor.” Corresponding to three times the size of total foreign development assistance to the developing world, they infuse the recipient country with capital and help relatives and friends make ends meet. In some cases, the amount of remittances represents a sizable share of the recipient country’s gross domestic product (GDP). From Tajikistan to Honduras, from Moldova to Haiti, remittances represent more than 25 percent of these countries’ total GDP. Although the amount of money transferred is staggering, it is not surprising that migrants would hope to send money back to their families. What is surprising is that they would engage in collective remittances—the act of sending money as a group to their hometown to finance infrastructure projects—and that they would partner with the government of their country of origin to do so. After all, this is the same government whose neglect implicitly contributed to the individual’s decision to migrate elsewhere.