Conference Paper

The trade, migration, and development nexus

Abstract: This paper deals with migrants' role in stimulating development in their countries of origin, outlining the three major channels through which migration can affect development: recruitment, remittances, and returns. It next turns to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), assessing the relevance of the Mexico-United States migration hump for migration, trade, and development elsewhere. The paper concludes that migrants can accelerate development in their countries of origin but finds nothing mechanical or automatic about the migration and development linkage. Countries growing and ready to grow can benefit from migration's three R's: recruitment, remittances, and returns. But in other cases, migration's three R's can prevent an economic takeoff. Thus, the answer to the question of whether migration accelerates development is simple: It depends.

Keywords: Emigration and immigration; International trade; Economic development; Developing countries; Emigrant remittances;

Status: Published in Migration, trade, and development: proceedings of the 2006 conference on migration, trade, and development

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Part of Series: Proceedings

Publication Date: 2006

Pages: 11-34