Advances in Science

Economic remittances comprise invaluable income for developing economies. But there is another type of remittance that generates a deeper and longer-term impact: social ones. Researcher Julia Seither explains its importance.

The development of all human civilizations has had migration as a key protagonist. They have been the reason—and also the cause—for the birth of many societies and have always profoundly shaped and influenced politics and world order. They now impact people’s economies and participate in global geopolitical decisions

But these macro-level transformations generated by the flow of people across borders originate at the individual level, from the person who decides to leave their country to seek a better future in another, to the family that completely abandons what was once their home because of a violent conflict. The reasons are endless and each one is unique, specific to each reality. As a result, the impact of this displacement is observed both in the new place of destination and in the place of departure: the destination is part of the migrant’s present and future, and the origin is part of their past. However, thanks to migrants, these two spaces coexist, interact, nourish, and, of course, transform each other.

“I was always interested in knowing what was happening in the place of origin of the people who migrated. They always talk about the migrant’s experience since they leave their house or home, but I didn’t know what was happening with the place they left.” These are the words of Julia Seither, a professor at the Faculty of Economics at the Universidad del Rosario. Among other topics, Seither studies the effects of migration on the development of social regulations and their impact on economies.

In recent years, she has published two important papers on this topic, in which she analyzes the behavioral dynamics of the migrant population of Cape Verde and Mozambique, both countries with deep migratory traditions. Both are characterized by a different type of migrant, with specific motives. Still, they can shed light on migratory behavior in other parts of the world and, in particular, on the impact of these migrations on the countries of origin.

“I began to study how migrants can become actors in the development not only of small groups, but also of entire countries, and not only from the economic aspect, but also from aspects of idiosyncrasy such as political attitudes or decisions about fertility and education among the family group,” Seither explains

From an economic point of view, the impact is easy to see. One of the driving forces behind migration is the need to achieve a better financial status. According to the World Bank, migrants’ incomes increase three to six times when they move from low-income countries to high-income countries. And those gains also impact the migrant’s countries of origin.

Let’s look at the example of Colombia. 2020 data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs teaches that the number of Colombians abroad is close to 5.5 million. In other words, almost 10% of Colombians live outside the country. In 2021, the remittances that these people sent to the country totaled 8.597 billion dollars, 24.4 percent more than in 2020, in accordance with the data compiled by the Bank of the Republic. This corresponds to 2.5 percent of the country’s total GDP for that year. By 2022, it is expected to reach 10 billion dollars.

But migrants do not only produce monetary or material remittances; they also transfer new knowledge, practices, and civil norms to their countries of origin, known in the specialized literature as “social remittances” of various kinds: a greater appreciation for education and health, a greater demand for political responsibility, an exchange of information that modifies conceptions, trends or decisions about fertility (how many children they have per family group, or whether or not they decide to have children), and better organiztional and entrepreneurial skills.

From homes to governments

“Contact through both virtual and physical social networks enables the exchange of ideas, leading to significant transformations in the country of origin. For example, suppose people go to countries with stronger political institutions or more complex social structures that work. In that case, the people who live this reality value them and pass them on to their places of origin,” Seither continues. In fact, migration can affect the strengthening of democratic institutions in various ways, particularly, in improving governance and promoting political participation.

In 2019, Seither, together with Catia Batista and Peter C. Vincente from the Universidad Nova de Lisboa (Portugal), published the study Do migrants’ social networks shape the political attitudes and behaviors in the home? (World Development, 2019), which analyzed surveys conducted in 1,766 households in Mozambique around the time of the 2009 national elections. Migrants from this country move mainly to South African mines and farms, and it has one of the lowest rates of political participation in the southern part of the continent. It ranks 178th out of 187 countries on the Human Development Index (Colombia ranked 83rd in 2019) and for its development, the country has historically been dependent on international aid. In 2013, economic remittances to the country rose to 1.5 percent of its GDP, which was 16.7 billion dollars that year, according to the World Bank).

Mozambique’s migrants are mostly young men in search of better income-earning jobs, and the preferred destination for 86 percent of them is neighboring South Africa, a typical example of South-South migration. “The men go for nine-month periods to work in the mines; perhaps they return for a month and leave again,” suggests the researcher, who adds that “they usually live together with migrants from other countries in the same town or camp, and this frequent exchange allows them to discuss ideas and talk about political participation, among other issues.”

The results of the study suggest that political attitudes and behaviors may be learned and valued more at home by people who are in contact with the migrants. “We found that family is important, but contact with immigrants through informal discussions, such as those with friends, has a greater impact on political decision-making and influences political participation,” he explains.

Who has more influence, the migrant abroad or the returnee?

One of the ideas that comes to mind when we talk about emigration is that the country loses something when its nationals leave. The concept of “brain drain” is often cited and is often thought to be detrimental to the country if those who leave are, at the same time, the most capable, the most educated, and the most experienced. This fact can also regulate investments in the country because if people emigrate, they will certainly not invest in their territory or participate in demoas efficient in transmitting new values as those who remain abroad. They compared the effects of international migration between the political institutions of Cape Verde and Mozambique.

The results were published in the book Economic Globalization and Go-vernance (2021). Cape Verde, an Atlantic archipelago of nine islands to the west of Mauritania, is also a former Portuguese colony like Mozambique. Although, its population does not exceed 600,000, there may be twice as many Cape Verdeans living abroad, with approximately 260,000 in the United States and some 100,000 in Portugal. The country ranks 126th on the Human Development Index, and remittances exceed any other foreign investment.

“International migration, and contact with those who have left, can promote positive changes in the country of origin. In both countries, for example, the odds of political participation increase with each additional migrant in a respondent’s social network.”

The researchers analyzed 6,145 surveys conducted between 2005 and 2006 in Cape Verde and 5,354 in 2009 in Mozambique. A high proportion of Cape Verdean migrants (62.4 percent) had studied up to primary school, while in Mozambique, it was only up to literacy (31 percent).

“Emigration from Cape Verde is characterized by a relatively skilled exodus to Portugal and other countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), while emigration from Mozambique is mainly due to unskilled labor flows to South Africa,” the authors explain. They add that “the results we analyzed show that international migration substantially increases political participation in both scenarios.”

On the one hand, foreign migrants are more effective in transmitting ideas and promoting political and social changes in the countries of origin because they still live their day-to-day lives in that “different world,” with the constant influence of “those different institutions.” However and despite the ease of communication that now exists, the geographic distance between the two countries still weighs heavily, and this factor dilutes the influence of migrants

On the other hand, returning migrants have in their favor a closer contact with the locals, and a more significant opportunity for physical encounters and face-to-face dialogue. But with each passing day, the political institutions of the country where they lived become blurred or weakened, and their impact on that person is less and less.

In Cape Verde, in particular, the conclusions of the study reveal that the impact of returnees on political institutions is greater. They are, therefore, more effective in fulfilling this purpose than those who remain abroad.

 But in Mozambique, this was different. Instead, the greatest impact was through the exchange and direct contact between those who migrate and those in the country of origin.

In both countries, the likelihood of political participation increases with each additional migrant in a respondent’s social network.

“Our results show that the more an individual is exposed to better social norms regarding political participation, the more likely they are to act as a result. We have seen that small differences in the governance structures of these countries are relevant to promoting democracy and migration. Even if it occurs within the African continent, it can go a long way toward achieving it,” concludes Professor Julia Seither.