Migrants' Remittances, Poverty and Social Protection in the South Pacific: Fiji and Tonga

Population, Space and Place

Volumn 20, Issue 5, 2014, Pages 434-454

  Brown, Richard P C ^a   Connell, John ^b   Jimenez Soto, Eliana V ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND   (Australia)

^b UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY   (Australia)

Author keywords

Fiji; Inequality; Migration; Pacific Islands; Poverty; Remittances; Social protection; Tonga; Wealth

Indexed keywords

FINANCIAL SYSTEM; HOUSEHOLD INCOME; INCOME DISTRIBUTION; INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION; MIGRANTS REMITTANCE; POVERTY ALLEVIATION; QUALITY OF LIFE; SMALL ISLAND STATE;

FIJI; PACIFIC OCEAN; PACIFIC OCEAN (SOUTH); TONGA;

EID: 84890027810     PISSN: 15448444     EISSN: 15448452     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1002/psp.1765     Document Type: Article

References (115)

1. Abbott D. 2006. Estimation of Basic Needs Poverty Lines and Incidence of Poverty in Fiji. Draft Final Report on the Analysis of the 2002/03 Household Income and Expenditure Surveys. United Nations Development Program, UNDP, Pacific Sub Regional Centre: Suva.
2. Abbott D, Pollard S. 2004. Hardship and Poverty in the Pacific. Asian Development Bank: Manila.
3. Adams RH. 1989. Worker remittances and inequality in rural Egypt. Economic Development and Cultural Change 38(1): 45-71.
4. Adams RH. 2006a. Remittances, poverty, and investment in Guatemala. In International Migration, Remittances and the Brain Drain, Ozden C, Schiff M (eds). World Bank and Palgrave McMillan: Washington; 53-80.
5. Adams RH. 2006b. International remittances and the household: analysis and review of global evidence. Journal of African Economies 15(2): 396-425.
6. Adams RH. 2011. Evaluating the economic impact of international remittances on developing countries using household surveys: a literature review. Journal of Development Studies 47(6): 809-828.
7. Adams RH, Page J. 2005. Do international migration and remittances reduce poverty in developing countries? World Development 33(10): 1645-1669.
8. Ahlburg D. 1995. Migration, remittances and the distribution of income: evidence from the pacific. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal 4: 157-168.
9. Ahlburg D, Brown RPC. 1998. Migrants' Intentions to return home and capital transfers: a study of Tongans and Samoans in Australia. Journal of Development Studies 35(2): 125-151.
10. Alexeyeff K. 2009. Travelling parties: Cook Islanders' transnational movement. In Migration and Transnationalism Pacific Perspectives, Lee H, Francis ST (eds). ANU E Press: Canberra, Australia; 91-102.
11. Azam J-P, Gubert F. 2005. Migrants' remittances and the household in Africa. A review of evidence. Journal of African Economies 15(2): 426-462.
12. Bank for International Settlements (BIS), World Bank. 2007. General Principles for International Remittance Services. BIS, Geneva and World Bank: Washington.
13. Barajas A, Chami R, Fullenkamp C, Gapen M, Montiel P. 2009. Do Workers' remittances promote economic growth? IMF Working Paper WP/09/153. Middle Eastern and Central Asia Department. International Monetary Fund: Washington.
14. Barham B, Boucher S. 1998. Migration, remittances, and inequality: estimating the net effects of migration on income distribution. Journal of Development Economics 55: 307-331.
15. Bedford R, Hugo G. 2012. Population Movement in the Pacific: A Perspective on Future Prospects. Labour and Immigration Research Centre: Wellington, New Zealand.
16. Bertram G. 1986. Sustainable development in south pacific micro-economies. World Development 14: 809-22.
17. Bertram G. 1999. Economy. In The Pacific Islands: Environment and Society, Rapaport M (ed.). Bess Press: Honolulu; 337-352.
18. Bertram G, Watters RF. 1985. The MIRAB economy in South Pacific microstates. Pacific Viewpoint 26: 497-520.
19. Besnier N. 2011 On the Edge of the Global. Modern Anxieties in a Pacific Island Nation. Stanford University Press: Stanford.
20. Blanco C. 2009. Temporary migration, remittances and development: early impressions of the Australian pacific seasonal worker pilot scheme. Unpublished BA thesis, University of Sydney.
21. Borovnik M. 2006 Working overseas: Seafarers' remittances and their distribution in Kiribati. Asia Pacific Viewpoint 47: 151-161.
22. Briguglio L. 1995. Small island developing states and their economic vulnerabilities. World Development 23(9): 1615-1632.
23. Brown RPC. 1997. Estimating remittance functions for pacific island migrants. World Development 25: 613-626.
24. Brown RPC. 1998. Do migrants' remittances decline over time? Evidence from Tongans and Western Samoans in Australia. The Contemporary Pacific 10: 107-151.
25. Brown RPC. 2008. Remittances and development in the pacific: effects on human development in Fiji and Tonga. Paper prepared for United Nations Expert Group Meeting on International Migration and Development in Asia and the Pacific. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs Bangkok, Thailand. (UN/POP/EGM-MIG/2008/3)
26. Brown RPC, Connell J. 2004. The migration of doctors and nurses from south pacific island nations. Social Science & Medicine 58: 2193-2210.
27. Brown RPC, Connell J. 2006. Occupation-specific analysis of migration and remittance behaviour: Pacific Island nurses in Australia and New Zealand. Asia Pacific Viewpoint 47(1): 135-150.
28. Brown RPC, Jimenez E. 2008. Estimating the net effects of migration and remittances on poverty and inequality comparison of Fiji and Tonga. Journal of International Development 20: 547-571.
29. Brown RPC, Jimenez E. 2011. Subjectively-assessed welfare: evidence from Tonga. Journal of Development Studies 47(6): 829-845.
30. Brown RPC, Leeves G. 2011. Comparative effects of migrants' remittances on composition of recipient household income in two small, island economies. Applied Economics 43: 3965-3976.
31. Brown RPC, Poirine B. 2005. Intergenerational transfers with impure altruism: an analysis of migrants' remittances. International Migration Review 39(2): 407-38.
32. Brown RPC, Connell J, Jimenez E, Leeves G. 2006. Cents and sensibility: the economic benefits of remittances, Ch. 3. In At Home and Away: Expanding Job Opportunities for Pacific Islanders through Labor Mobility. The World Bank: Washington, DC; 47-99.
33. Brown RPC, Leeves G, Prayaga P. 2012. Sharing norm pressures and community remittances: evidence from a natural disaster in the Pacific Islands. School of Economics Discussion Paper No. 471 (October), School of Economics, University of Queensland, Brisbane.
34. Browne C, Mineshima A. 2007. Remittances in the Pacific region. IMF Working Paper, WP/07/35 (Washington: International Monetary Fund).
35. Chami R, Fullenkamp C, Jahjah S. 2003. Are immigrant remittances flows a source of capital for development? IMF Working Paper 03/189. International Monetary Fund: Washington DC.
36. Chandra D. 2003. International migration from Fiji: gender and human development issues. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal 13: 179-204.
37. Combes J-L, Ebeke C. 2011. Remittances and household consumption instability in developing countries. World Development 39(7): 1076-89.
38. Connell J. 1980. Remittances and rural development: migration, dependency and inequality in the south pacific. National Centre for Development Studies Occasional Paper No.22. Australian National University, Canberra.
39. Connell J. 2006. Migration, dependency and inequality in the pacific: old wine in bigger bottles? In Globalisation and Governance in the Pacific Islands, Firth S (ed.). Australian National University E Press: Canberra; 59-106.
40. Connell J. 2008. Niue: Embracing a Culture of Migration. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 34: 1021-1040.
41. Connell J. 2009. The Global Health Care Chain: From the Pacific to the World. Routledge: New York and London.
42. Connell J. in press. Islands at Risk. Environments, Economies and Contemporary Change. Edward Elgar: Cheltenham (in press).
43. Connell J, Brown RPC. 2005. Remittances in the Pacific. An Overview. Asian Development Bank: Manila.
44. Connell J, Conway D. 2000. Migration and remittances in island microstates: a comparative perspective on the south pacific and the Caribbean. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 24: 52-78.
45. Connell J, Hammond J. 2009. The new blackbirds? Vanuatu guestworkers in New Zealand. New Zealand Geographer 65: 201-210.
46. Cox D. 1987. Motives for private income transfers. Journal of Political Economy 95(3): 508-543.
47. Cox D, Hansen B, Jimenez E. 2004. How responsive Are private transfers to income: evidence from a laissez-faire economy. Journal of Public Economics 88(9-10): 2193-2219.
48. DeVoretz DJ, Vadean FP. 2006. Social relations and remittances: evidence from canadian micro data. IZA Discussion Paper No. 2501, The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn, Germany.
49. Djajic S. 1986. International migration, remittances and welfare in a dependent economy. Journal of Development Economics 21: 229-234.
50. Djajic S. 1998. Emigration and welfare in an economy with foreign capital. Journal of Development Economics 56: 433-445.
51. Duncan R, Chand S. 2002. The economics of the Arc of Instabilit'. Asian-Pacific Economic Literature 16(1): 1-9.
52. Easterly W, Kraay A. 2000. Small states, small problems? income, growth and volatility in small states. World Development 28: 2013-2027.
53. El Qorchi M, Maimbo SM, Wilson JF. 2003. Informal funds transfer systems: an analysis of the informal hawala system. Joint IMF-World Bank Paper, Washington: International Monetary Fund, August 18.
54. Evans M. 2001. Persistence of the Gift. Tongan Tradition in Transnational Context. Wilfred Laurier University Press: Waterloo.
55. Faeamani S. 1995. The impact of remittances on rural development in Tongan villages. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal 4: 139-156.
56. Frankel J. 2011. Are bilateral remittances countercyclical? Open Economies Review Springer 22(1): 1-16.
57. Gailey CW. 1992a. A good man is hard to find. Critique of Anthropology 12: 47-74.
58. Gailey CW. 1992b. State formation, development and social change in Tonga. In Social Change in the Pacific Islands, Robillard AB (ed.). Kegan Paul International: London; 322-45.
59. Gibson J, Boe-Gibson G, Rohorua H, McKenzie D. 2007. Efficient remittance services for development in the pacific. Asia-Pacific Development Journal 14(2): 55-74.
60. Giuliano P, Ruiz-Arranz M. 2009. Remittances, financial development, and growth. Journal of Development Economics 90(1): 144-152.
61. Guillaumont P. 2007. Assessing the economic vulnerability of small island developing states and the least developed countries. Research Paper No. 2007/40, UNU-WIDER, Helsinki.
62. James K. 1993. Cash and Kin. Aspects of migration and remittance from the perspective of a fishing village in Vava'u, Tonga. In A World Perspective on Pacific Islander Migration, McCall G, Connell J (eds). UNSW Centre for South Pacific Studies Monograph No. 6: Sydney; 359-374.
63. Jimenez E. 2008. The social protection role of remittances - the cases of Fiji and Tonga. PhD thesis, School of Economics, The University of Queensland.
64. Jimenez E, Brown RPC. 2012. Remittances and subjective welfare in a mixed-motives model: evidence from Fiji. International Migration (in press). DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2435.2012.00764.x
65. Jimenez-Soto E, Brown RPC. 2012. Assessing the poverty impacts of migrants' remittances using Propensity Score Matching: the case of Tonga. The Economic Record 88(282): 425-439.
66. Kireyev A. 2006. The macroeconomics of remittances: the case of tajikistan. IMF Working Paper 06/02. IMF: Washington DC.
67. Lee H. 2003. Tongans Overseas. Between Two Shores. University of Hawaii Press: Honolulu.
68. Lee H. 2009. Pacific migration and transnationalism: historical perspectives. In Migration and Transnationalism Pacific Perspectives, Lee H, Francis ST (eds). ANU E Press: Canberra, Australia; 7-41.
69. Lee H. 2011. Rethinking transnationalism through the second generation. The Australian Journal of Anthropology 22: 295-313.
70. Lin H. 2011. Determinants of remittances: evidence from Tonga. IMF Working Paper WP/11/18. IMF: Washington.
71. Loomis T. 1990. Cook Island remittances: volumes, determinants and uses. In Migration and Development in the South Pacific, Connell J (ed.). National Centre for Development Studies, Research School of Pacific Studies, The Australian National University: Canberra; 61-81.
72. Loser C, Lockwood C, Minson A, Balcazar L. 2006. The macro-economic impact of remittances in Latin America - Dutch disease or Latin cure? Paper Presented at the G-24 Technical Group meeting in Singapore on September 13-14.
73. Maclellan N. 2008. Seasonal workers for Australia - lessons from New Zealand. Farm Policy Journal 5(3): 43-53.
74. Macpherson C. 2004. Transnationalism and transformation in Samoan society. In Globalization and Culture Change in the Pacific Islands, Lockwood V (ed.). Pearson: New Jersey; 165-181.
75. Macpherson C, Macpherson L. 2009a. Kinship and transnationalism. In Migration and Transnationalism Pacific Perspectives, Lee H, Francis ST (eds). ANU E Press: Canberra, Australia; 73-90.
76. Macpherson C, Macpherson L. 2009b. The Warm Winds of Change. Globalisation in Contemporary Samoa. Auckland University Press: Auckland.
77. Marcus GE. 1981. Power on the extreme periphery: the perspective of Tongan elites in the modern world system. Pacific Viewpoint 22: 48-64.
78. Marcus GE. 1993. Tonga's contemporary globalizing strategies: trading on sovereignty amidst international migration. In Contemporary Pacific Societies, Harding T, Wallace B (eds). Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs; 21-33.
79. McGillivray M, Naudé W, Santos-Paulino A. 2010. Vulnerability, trade, financial flows and state failure in small island developing states. Journal of Development Studies 46: 815-827.
80. Melde S, Schicklinski J. 2011. Remittances in the African, Caribbean and pacific countries. Brussels: ACP Observatory on Migration, Background Note No. 2.
81. Mendola M. 2012. Rural out-migration and economic development at origin: a review of the evidence. Journal of International Development 24(1): 102-122.
82. Morris M. 2011. Measuring poverty in the Pacific. Development Policy Centre Discussion Paper 9. Crawford School of Economics and Government, The Australian National University, Canberra.
83. Morton H. 1998. Creating their Own culture: diasporic Tongans. The Contemporary Pacific 10: 1-30.
84. Morton H. 1999. Islanders in space: Tongans online. In Small Worlds, Global Lives. Islands and Migration, King R, Connell J (eds). Pinter: London; 235-253.
85. Narsey W, Raikoti T, Waqavonovono E. 2010. Preliminary Report: Poverty and Household Income and Expenditure Survey. Fiji Islands Bureau of Statistics: Suva.
86. Nikas C, King R. 2005. Economic growth through remittances: lessons from the Greek experience of the 1960s applicable to the Albanian case. Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans 7(2): 235-257.
87. Orozco M. 2004 Mexican hometown associations and development opportunities Journal of International Affairs 57(2): 1-21.
88. Ozden C, Schiff M (eds). 2006. International Migration, Remittances and the Brain Drain. The World Bank/Palgrave Macmillan: Washington DC.
89. Ozden C, Schiff M (eds). 2007. International Migration, Economic Development and Policy. The World Bank/Palgrave Macmillan: Washington, DC.
90. Poirine B. 1997. A theory of remittances as an informal loan agreement. World Development 25(4): 589-611.
91. Pop G. 2011. Cape Verde. In Remittance Markets in Africa, Mohapatra S, Ratha D (eds). World Bank: Washington, DC; 91-111.
92. Rapoport H, Docquier F. 2006. The economics of migrants' remittances. In Handbook on the Economics of Giving, Reciprocity and Altruism. Applications Volume 2, Kolm S, Ythier J (eds). Elsevier: Amsterdam; 1136-1195.
93. Ratha D. 2007. Leveraging remittances for development. Policy Brief. Migration Policy Institute, Washington DC. Paper presented at the Leading Group on Solidarity Levies Conference on Innovative Finance, Oslo, February 6-7. www.worldbank.org/prospects/migrationandremittances.
94. Ratha D, Mohapatra S. 2007. Increasing the macroeconomic impact of remittances on development. Development Prospects Group, Washington: The World Bank. (Note prepared for the G8 Outreach Event on Remittances, Berlin, November 28-30.) http://www.dilipratha.com/index_files/G8Berlin.pdf
95. Ratha D, Silwal A. 2012. Outlook for Remittance Flows 2011 - an update. Migration and Development Brief, 18. Migration and Development team, Development Prospects Group. The World Bank: Washington, DC.
96. Ratha D, Mohapatra S, Silwal A. 2010. Outlook for Remittance Flows 2010-2011. Migration and Development Brief, 12. Migration and Development team, Development Prospects Group. The World Bank: Washington, DC.
97. Shankman P. 1976. Migration and Underdevelopment: the Case of Western Samoa. Wesview: Boulder.
98. Simati AM, Gibson J. 2001. Do remittances decay? Evidence from Tuvaluan migrants in New Zealand. Pacific Economic Bulletin 16(1): 55-63.
99. Small C. 1997. Voyages: From Tongan Villages to American Suburbs. Cornell University Press: Ithaca.
100. Stark O, Bloom D. 1985. The new economics of labor migration. The American Economic Review 75(2): 173-178.
101. Stark O, Levhari D. 1982. On migration and risk in LDCs. Economic Development and Cultural Change 31: 191-196.
102. Stavenuiter S. 1983. Income distribution in Fiji: an analysis of its various dimensions with implications for future employment, basic needs and income policies. WEP Research Working Paper. ILO: Geneva.
103. Taylor JE. 1992. Remittances and inequality reconsidered: direct, indirect and intertemporal effects. Journal of Policy Modelling 14(2): 187-208.
104. Taylor JE, Rozelle S, de Brauw A. 2003 Migration and incomes in source communities: a new economics of migration perspective from china. Economic Development and Cultural Change 52: 75-101.
105. Tonga Ministry of Finance. 2011. Second national millennium development goals report. Ministry of Finance, Nuku'alofa.
106. UNDP. 1996. Fiji Poverty Report. Government of Fiji and UNDP: Suva.
107. Vargas-Silva C, Huang P. 2006. Macroeconomic determinants of workers' remittances: host versus home country's economic conditions. Journal of International Trade and Economic Development 15(1): 81-99.
108. Verme P. 2011. The poverty reduction capacity of public and private transfers in transition. Journal of Development Studies 47(6): 870-893.
109. Winters A. 2005. Small economies in a globalising world. Pacific Economic Bulletin 20(3): 94-102.
110. World Bank. 2005. Global Economic Prospects 2006: Economic Implications of Remittances and Migration. The World Bank: Washington, DC. www.worldbank.org/prospects/migrationandremittances.
111. World Bank. 2011. Migration and Remittances Fact Book 2011, 2nd ed. The World Bank: Washington, DC.
112. Yang D. 2006. International migration, remittances, and household investment: evidence from Philippine migrants' exchange rate shocks. Working Paper 12325. National Bureau of Economic Research.
113. Yang D. 2008. Coping with disaster: the impact of hurricanes on international financial flows, 1970-2002. The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy 8(1): 1935-1682.
114. Yang D, Choi H. 2007. Are remittances insurance? Evidence from rainfall shocks in the Philippines. The World Bank Economic Review 21(2): 219-248.
115. Yari M. 2003. Beyond 'subsistence affluence': poverty in pacific island countries. In Asia-Pacific Economies: Maintaining Dynamism. Bulletin on Asia-Pacific Perspectives 2003/04. UN/ESCAP: Bangkok; Ch. 3, 41-54.