Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Emigrant-Remittances and Domestic Adjustment in an Era of Globalization

University Of Texas At Austin, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

This project addresses the political causes and effects of remittances, the money emigrants send back to their family members in developing countries. The project collects and uses survey data from random samples of Mexican households and interviews conducted with Mexican policymakers to investigate three central questions: (1) When forced to confront an economic shock, are households without reliable access to social welfare programs more likely to receive remittances? (2) Are remittance-receiving households less resistant to destabilizing market-oriented policies than non-recipients, controlling for relevant factors? (3) Are the efforts of developing country governments to facilitate emigration and attract remittances pursued as a de facto social policy, implemented by policymakers with the aim of limiting political fallout from constraints on their ability to spend large amounts of money on social welfare programs? This study contributes to political science debates about the impact and feasibility of market reform and globalization in developing countries by, for the first time in this literature, analyzing the social insurance role played by migrant-remittances. Furthermore, this proposal provides a novel macro-level perspective to debates among anthropologists, economists, and sociologists about the functions of migrant-remittances in developing countries. This research project also has broader social impacts. Although migration is a bilateral phenomenon that is most effectively managed when migrant-sending and migrant-receiving governments work together, policymakers in the developed world have generally dealt with migration issues unilaterally via immigration control policies. This study provides policy experts on both sides of the border a new perspective about how emigration serves households and politicians in developing countries. By understanding these dynamics, opportunities for bilateral dialogues can be enhanced and more effective bilateral solutions become possible. This broader social impacts occur through: the dissemination of this study's data and findings to Mexican and US policy experts; the establishment of new relationships between Mexican and US scholars in the process of conducting field research; the integration of the marginalized perspectives and insights of Mexican researchers, Mexican policy-makers, and Mexican emigrant-households into the US immigration debate via publications that result from this field project.