The domestic impact of international remittances : t he role of Dominican remittances in Washington Heights, New York

There has been a lot of research on, writing about, and celebration of the benefit of remittances on the economies of developing countries. However, there are no studies on the impact of these remittances on the communities within the United States from which these remittances originate. This lack of attention is particularly troublesome, as remitting communities are often concentrated in low-income neighborhoods where many families live below the poverty line. This thesis examines the domestic impact of remittances on money-sending communities: how much money is sent abroad, what sacrifices are made to send this money, what other costs are associated with remitting, and what could be done with the money if it were invested locally instead. Understanding remitting habits and costs from the sending side sheds light on this particular facet of immigrant life, and suggests where funding and support might be targeted to best help local development in communities with large remitting immigrant populations. This study focuses on the remitting habits and economic conditions of Dominican immigrants in Washington Heights.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Spraus, Shanny

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Phillip J. Thompson.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37479

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/37479