Remittances and migration--the commerce of movement.

Abstract

"This paper comments upon the role of remittances in a variety of emigrant situations, traces the way remittance patterns change over time and evaluates the importance of remittance payments for personal and national economies. It considers the concept of 'remittance-societies" in the South Pacific and elsewhere, and briefly examines the various mechanisms involved in the emigration-remittance cycle, including the expectation of interactions and interdependence that exists between migrants and their home-based kin, and the sacrifices and hardships often endured by many migrants to meet obligations back home."