Migrants can make a difference according to François Bourguignon, World Bank Chief Economist. They can generate substantial welfare gains for migrants and their families, as well as their origin and destination countries:
With the number of migrants worldwide now reaching almost 200 million, their productivity and earnings are a powerful force for poverty reduction. Remittances, in particular, are an important way out of extreme poverty for a large number of people. The challenge facing policymakers is to fully achieve the potential economic benefits of migration, while managing the associated social and political implications.
His comments drew on the World Bank's newly published Global economic prospects 2006: Economic implications of remittances and migration (the full 182 page report is available to download here). As usual it's a thorough and readable piece of work, backed up by solid research. One particularly interesting fact:
Officially recorded remittances worldwide exceeded $232 billion in 2005, with India receiving almost 10% of the amount ($21.7 billion).China came second with $21.3 billion, followed by Mexico ($18.1 billion), France ($12.7 billion), and the Philippines ($11.6 billion).
France? There are certainly plenty working in the City, but I didn't realise they were that well renumerated...
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