Remittance investment climate analysis: Ascertaining the local development potential of overseas remittances in Philippine rural hometowns

Abstract

This paper analyzed the potential of remittances in developing the rural hometowns of migrants and their families. Researchers employed a mixed methods tool, the Remittance Investment Climate Analysis in Rural Hometowns (RICART), for over eight years in six municipalities in the Philippines. We found that there is no common trend among municipalities that combining a sound investment climate, an ample number of financial institutions, high levels of residents’ financial literacy and an active program for migrants and their families all ensure remittances-induced hometown investing. Improving rural residents’ financial knowledge and instituting investment climate reforms may help direct remittances to local development.

Keywords

overseas remittances migration and development hometown investing remittance investment climate analysis in rural hometowns mixed methods Philippines

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ang

Opiniano

(2016a) Remittance Investment Climate Analysis in Rural Hometowns (RICART): Piloting a Tool on Rural Hometown Investing by Overseas Migrants. Manila: University of Santo Tomas Research Center on Culture, Education and Social Issues (UST RCCESI) and the Institute for Migration and Development Issues (IMDI).

Ang

Opiniano

(2016b) Remittance Investment Climate Analysis in Rural Hometowns (RICART): The Local Competitiveness of Pandi, Bulacan for Remittance Investments. Manila: University of Santo Tomas Research Center on Culture, Education and Social Issues (UST RCCESI) and the Institute for Migration and Development Issues (IMDI).

Ang

Opiniano

(2016c) Overseas Remittances, Hometown Investment and Financial Inclusion: A Remittance Investment Climate (REIC) Study in a Rural Hometown. Report for the Institute for Money, Technology & Financial Inclusion (IMTFI), University of California, Irvine (UCI), August. Irvine: UCI. Available at: https://www.imtfi.uci.edu/research/2014/Ang_and_Opiniano_et_al_IMTFI_final_report.pdf.

Ayres

Knafl

(2017) Typological analysis. In: Given

(ed) The Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, pp. 72-90.

Barad

(2007) Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durham: Duke University Press.

Birkenmaier

Huang

(2014) A new framework for financial capability. In: Society for Social Work and Research 18th Annual Conference, San Antonio, USA, 15–19 January.

Bowen

(2009) Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qualitative Research Journal 9(2): 27-40. DOI: 10.3316/QRJ0902027.

Clark

(2014) Roepke lecture in economic geography—Financial literacy in context. Economic Geography 90(1): 1-23. DOI: 10.1111/ecge.12029.

Cohen

(2011) Migration, remittances, and household strategies. Annual Review of Anthropology 40: 103-114. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-anthro-081309-145851.

10.

Creamer

(2018) An Introduction to Fully Integrated Mixed Methods Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

11.

Creswell

(2015) A Concise Introduction to Mixed Methods Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

12.

De Haas

(2006) Migration, remittances and regional development in southern Morocco. Geoforum 37(4): 565-580. DOI: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2005.11.007.

13.

De Haas

(2009) International migration and regional development in Morocco: A review. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 35(10): 1571-1593. DOI: 10.1080/13691830903165808.

14.

Department of Finance (DOF) (2008) Department Order No. 23-08. Available at: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/23121728/department-order-no-23-08-nscb.

15.

Dumlao-Abadilla

(2015) 1M Filipinos lost P25B to investment scams. Inquirer.net, 05 November. Available at: https://business.inquirer.net/202001/1m-filipinos-lost-p25b-to-investment-scams?utm_expid=.XqNwTug2W6nwDVUSgFJXed.1.

16.

Fukasawa

PSM

(2021) Making a difference with mechanization. PhilMech Newsletter, July-September. Available at: https://www.philmech.gov.ph/resources/newsletter/Newsletter_2021_3rd_Quarter.pdf.

17.

Gamboa

(2017) Making rural banks more relevant. Philstar.com, 11 December. Available at: https://www.philstar.com/business/2017/12/11/1767414/making-rural-banks-more-relevant.

18.

Institute for Migration and Development Issues (IMDI) (2011a) Socio-economic Development Profile of Maribojoc, Bohol: A Profile Based on the Results of the 2004, 2007 and 2010 Rounds of the Poverty Database Monitoring System (PDMS). Report for IMDI (unpublished).

19.

Institute for Migration and Development Issues (IMDI) (2011b) Socio-economic Development Profile of Magarao, Camarines Sur: A Profile Based on the Results of the 2008 Rounds of the Local Enhanced and Automated Databank (LEAD) Survey. Report for IMDI (unpublished).

20.

Jureidini

Bartunkova

Ghoneim

et al. (2010) A Study on Remittances and Investment Opportunities for Egyptian Migrants. Report for International Organization for Migration (IOM). Cairo: IOM. Available at: https://egypt.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl1021/files/documents/Remittances%2520and%2520Investment%2520Opportunities%2520for%2520Egyptian%2520Migrants.pdf.

21.

Lucas

REB

(2007) Migration and rural development. Electronic Journal of Agricultural and Development Economics 4(1): 99-122. DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.112594.

22.

Massey

Arango

Hugo

et al. (1998) Worlds in Motion: Understanding International Migration at the End of the Millennium. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

23.

National Statistics Office (NSO) (2010) 2010 Census of Population and Housing. Dataset, NSO. Available at: https://psa.gov.ph/system/files/phcd/2022-12/Central%2520Luzon.pdf.

24.

Opiniano

(2010) Pinoys abroad tapped to wake up sleep town of Bohol. Philippines Today, 12 January. Available at: https://philippinestoday.net/archives/2295.

25.

Opiniano

(2021) Overseas remittances and rural hometown investing in two Philippine municipalities: Towards an understanding of the migration-and-local development nexus. PhD Thesis, University of Adelaide, Australia. Available at: https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/137490/1/Opiniano2021_PhD.pdf.

26.

Orient Integrated Development Consultants Inc. (OIDCI) (2014) 2014 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index: Manual of Operations. Manual for U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Philippines. Output No. 1.1, Deliverable 1, Component 3, 08 September. Available at: https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00K5T2.pdf.

27.

Orozco

(2008) Planting the Seeds of Financial Inclusion: Financial Literacy for Remittance Recipients in Moldova. Report for the International Labor Organization (ILO). Geneva: ILO.

28.

Raap

Ang

(2018) Strengthening the Case for Local Investment of Overseas Remittances. Impact Story for Global Development Network (GDN). New Delhi: GDN. Available at: https://www.gdn.int/sites/default/files/GDN-Casestudy-8.pdf.

29.

Reyes-Estrope

(2019) New residents: Kadamay raises voting power of Bulacan town. Inquirer.net, 23 April. Available at: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1109494/new-residents-kadamay-raises-voting-power-of-bulacan-town.

30.

Seigel

Waidler

(2012) Migration and multi-dimensional poverty in Moldovan communities. Working paper for United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and social Research institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), Working Paper no. 2012-077, December. Available at: https://unu-merit.nl/publications/wppdf/2012/wp2012-077.pdf.

31.

Sheehan

Riosmena

(2013) Migration, business formation, and the informal economy in urban Mexico. Social Science Research 42(4): 1092-1108. DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2013.01.006.

32.

Sherraden

Ansong

(2016) Financial literacy to financial capability: Building financial stability and security. In: Aprea

Wuttke

Breuer

et al. (eds) International Handbook of Financial Literacy. New York: Springer, pp. 83-96.

33.

Sicat

(2023) Moncada: An emerging emporium of commerce and trade fairs. Tarlakenyo, 28 January. Available at: https://tarlakenyo.com/2023/01/moncada-an-emerging-emporium-of-commerce-and-trade-fairs/.

34.

Smith

Hallward-Driemeier

Tata

et al. (2004) World Development Report 2005: A Better Investment Climate for Everyone. Report for the World Bank, Report no. 28829, 01 January. Washington, DC: World Bank. Available at: https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/554071468182337250/pdf/288290WDR00PUB0r0investment0climate.pdf.

35.

Stark

Bloom

(1985) The new economics of labor migration. The American Economic Review 75(2): 173-178. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1805591.

36.

Taylor

(1999) The new economics of labour migration and the role of remittances in the migration process. International Migration 37(1): 63-88. DOI: 10.1111/1468-2435.00066.

37.

Taylor

Dyer

(2009) Migration and the sending economy: A disaggregated rural economy-wide analysis. Journal of Development Studies 45(6): 966-989. DOI: 10.1080/00220380802265553.

38.

Taylor

Zabin

Eckhoff

(1999) Migration and rural development in El Salvador: A micro economywide perspective. The North American Journal of Economics and Finance 10(1): 91-114. DOI: 10.1016/S1062-9408(99)00023-6.

39.

Uprichard

Dawney

(2019) Data diffraction: Challenging data integration in mixed methods research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research 13(1): 19-32. DOI: 10.1177/1558689816674650.

40.

van der Meer

Burcroff

Larson

et al. (2006) The Rural Investment Climate: It Differs and It Matters. Report for the World Bank, Report no. 36543, 01 March. Washington, DC: World Bank. Available at: https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/973011468329482002/pdf/365430white0co1mate106280601PUBLIC1.pdf.

41.

van der Meer

Vijverberg

Burcroff

(2008) The Rural Investment Climate: Analysis and Findings. Report for the World Bank, Report no. 44009, 01 January. Washington, DC: World Bank. Available at: https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/837381468335947054/pdf/440090ESW0P1070RICAnalysis0Findings.pdf.