Abstracts Category : Other

Collective remittances in Mexico and beyond: a model for the future?

by Chandler Matthew Armstrong

Mexican migrants in the U.S. are one of the largest diasporas of the modern era and an important case study for transnationalism and development. Collective remittances are remittances that emigrants pool towards developmental goals in their home community. Collective remittances are a small fraction of total remittances, but in partnerships with their federal and local governments Mexican emigrants partially fund public goods and infrastructure development in their home communities. Mexico's experience with collective remittances is influential and has shaped migration and development practice around the globe. The following chapters present an analysis of collective remittances in Mexican communities and link the data and theory from Mexico to other nations and emigrants around the globe. The analysis finds that Mexican migrant's wages in the U.S. are the strongest predictors of collectively funded projects. Migrant's wages are consistent with a motivation to diminish future migration by improving home towns and providing jobs. The comparison between Mexico and other diasporas demonstrates that motivations are indeed a useful lens for applying the knowledge and observations from one diaspora to another, but also identifies that important affordances for migrants to organize and partner are absent from the model, including geography, ethnicity, and international politics. Motivations and their interactions with community history and economic context are one of the least understood aspects of collective remittances, and the results of this dissertation help fill this notable gap, but the absence of political-geographic and ethnic aspects in remittance motivation theory remain a shortcoming.Advisors/Committee Members: Liao, Tim F (advisor), Liao, Tim F (Committee Chair), Buckley, Cynthia (committee member), Redstone Akresh, Ilana (committee member), McDermott, Monica (committee member).