Sending Money Home: Colombian Contemporary Migration Social Networks and Remittance Behavior

Maria Aysa, Florida International University

The comparison of diverse destinations chosen by contemporary emigrants leaving from the same country gives researchers an opportunity to evaluate a ‘destination effect’ on migration networks and remittance behavior. This paper analyses differences between Colombians who migrated to Spain and the United States. The evidence suggests that migration networks and remittance behavior of Colombian migrants in the United States and Europe are different. Moreover, differences in migration policies and language between both destination countries should have effects on network size and strength. I hypothesize that differences in network characteristics have effects on migrants’ labor performance, likelihood of return, and remittance behavior. The data used for this analysis are quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative data come from a remittance’s beneficiary national survey and a household survey in the coffee region. The qualitative data come from focus groups on the migration expectations and remittances use of families left behind.