Regional Integration, Remittances and Development

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This project aims at shedding light on the relationship between regional integration, remittances and development. It has three (3) specific objectives: First specific objective: to understand how existing integration arrangements, whether formal or informal, affect remittance flows. For example, formal free trade agreements may contain disciplines on financial services that may reduce the cost of sending remittances across borders; moreover, informal economic integration via the strengthening of migrant networks, for example, may facilitate migration and increase the number of potential remittance senders. Second specific objective: to enhance our understanding of how remittances contribute to economic development, assessing, for example, remittances' impact on education, health, income distribution and saving. Third specific objective: to increase awareness in the region about the importance of remittances as a potential engine of economic development.