This thesis presents a sub-national comparative analysis of the nexus between migration and development using the case of two disparate migrant communities (from the Upper East and Eastern regions of Ghana) in the UK. The aim is to examine how inherent socio-economic inequalities prior to emigration impact on emigrants’ migration patterns, experiences, transnational activities and, ultimately, development outcomes at the micro and meso levels in the sending country. I argue, in this thesis, that the focus by development economists and most migration researchers on national-level macro analysis, as well as ‘location specific’ or single-site sub-national analysis, of the centrality of remittances to the enhancement of development at ‘home’ masks important nuances that are revealed by a comparative sub-national analysis. This study uses a case study approach, whereby two migrant communities are investigated in detail within their pre-migration contexts. This allows for a deeper understanding of how transnational migration practices and/or processes are influenced by, and influence their context. It examines regional socio-economic inequalities and the interconnections between migration stage, spatial scales and local development. This is achieved through a fifteen-month fieldwork using multiple research methods (key-informant interviews, in-depth structured and semi-structured interviews, surveys, participant observation and library research) in order to corroborate and triangulate findings from different sources. The thesis takes a spatiotemporal perspective in the migration-development nexus debate. Respondents for this research include economic migrants and refugees/forced migrants. Among others, I conclude that globalisation and access to effective, yet relatively cheap, technological and communications facilities have bolstered individualistic migratory decision making thus reducing the centrality of the family or household as the unit of analysis in the causes and consequences of migration discourses. Overall, the thesis aims to contribute a new, broader, and more inclusive perspective to migration research by arguing that migration-development phenomena are better appreciated through a comprehensive approach that encompasses migrants and sending communities and underlines the relationship between the two within a sub-national context.

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Dans le présent travail de recherche, nous proposons, à travers quelques essais empiriques, un nouveau regard sur les enjeux économiques de la migration internationale et le développement des pays d’origine. Tout d’abord, nous commençons par étudier le lien entre la migration internationale et le commerce extérieur en nous appuyant sur des données bilatérales d’un groupe de 27 pays, choisis selon des critères bien particuliers. Les résultats mettent en exergue un lien de complémentarité entre le commerce et la migration. Par la suite, nous étudions l’impact de la migration à travers d’autres canaux de transmissions tels que le capital humain et l’investissement. Il s’agit de retracer l’impact des transferts de fonds des migrants sur la croissance économique des pays d’origine de court et long terme. L’impact est ambigu dans l’espace et le temps. Enfin nous avons choisi de mener une étude complémentaire, à caractère micro-économique, et qui se focalise sur la migration de retour au pays du Maghreb et en particulier en Tunisie. Elle explique comment le migrant de retour contribue au développement de son pays d’origine à travers le canal investissement. Les résultats attestent un biais régional en défaveur de la région du Sud tunisien. / The present research proposes an attempt at explicitly analyzing the interrelationship between the economic effects of international migration and development in origin countries. By relying on bilateral data of a group of 27 countries selected according to very specific criteria, we start by studying the link between international migration and foreign trade, and show a complementary relationship between trade and migration. Then, we investigate the impact of migration through other transmission channels, such as human capital and investment, in order to trace the impact of migrants' remittances on economic growth of origin countries in the medium and long term. The impact is found ambiguous in space and time. Finally, we perform an additional study, at micro-economic level, which focuses on return migration to the Maghreb countries, with a particular attention to Tunisia. It aims at explaining how return migrants might contribute to the development of origin countries through the investment channel. The results show a regional bias to the detriment of the region of southern of Tunisia.

Près de trois millions de Sénégalais, sur une population totale d’un peu plus de douze millions, vivent à l’étranger. Auparavant orienté vers les anciennes colonies françaises d’Afrique et la France, pour des raisons géographiques, historiques et linguistiques, le champ migratoire sénégalais est devenu multipolaire. Les Sénégalais se dirigent également en Arabie et en Europe de l’Est. Mais, la part des itinéraires vers l’Europe du Sud et l’Amérique du Nord ne cesse de croître. Les Sénégalais qui émigrent vers les Etats-Unis correspondent à une émigration forte différente de celle de la France. Débutée au début des années 1980, l’émigration des Sénégalais vers Etats-Unis prend le dessus sur celle orientée vers la France en matière de dynamisme économique et organisationnel.Les Etats-Unis offrent plus d’opportunités et moins de contraintes pour l’épanouissement culturel et le développement économique des immigrés. Les femmes, occupant une place non négligeable dans cette émigration, sont plus jeunes et souvent célibataires au moment de leur arrivée sur le sol américain. En France, l’immigration sénégalaise est plus ancienne mais est confrontée à plus de contraintes au plan économique, administratif et socioculturel. Plus de 70 % des Sénégalais de France exercent des métiers faiblement qualifiés et épargnent moins que leurs homologues installés aux Etats-Unis. Ainsi, pour une meilleure réussite et venir davantage en aide à leurs familles restées au Sénégal, beaucoup de Sénégalais, plutôt que la France, choisissent les Etats-Unis où ils exercent pour la plupart des activités commerciales.Les raisons économiques et familiales n’expliquent pas, à elles seules, l’émigration des Sénégalais. En effet, ce ne sont pas uniquement les plus pauvres qui partent. A ces motifs, il faudra ajouter les « nouvelles logiques » migratoires liées à la mondialisation. L’émigration sénégalaise a des conséquences sur les régions de départ dont les plus visibles constituent les transferts de fonds des migrants et des investissements plus ou moins encadrés par des structures étatiques ou privées de développement solidaires. / Nearly three million Senegalese population out of twelve million just over, live abroad. Before directed to the former French colonies in Africa and France, for geographical historical and linguistic reasons, Senegalese migration field has become multipolar by the new opportunities offered by the others countries. The Senegalese emigration’s movement has been widened to Arabia and eastern Europe. But the trends show a growing portion of new candidates choose Southern Europe and North America. The profile of Senegalese emigrant to the U.S. is very different at many ways that the migration category in France. Starting in the early 1980s, the emigration of Senegalese in the United States outnumbers that one in France due to the economic and organizational dynamism and better incentive structure. The United States offers more opportunities and fewer constraints for the cultural and economic development to migrants. Women occupy a substantial place in this migration, they are younger and often single at the time of their arrival on American territory. In France, the Senegalese emigration is older but is facing more constraints on the economic, administrative and cultural aspects. Over 70% of the Senegalese France engaged in low skilled, paid jobs and save less than their counterparts located in the United States. Thus, for better success and more coming to their families support in Senegal, many Senegalese, rather that France, choose the United States where they mostly work in commercial activities. The family and economic reasons do not only explain, the emigration of Senegalese because they are not the sole poorest who leave. For these reasons there is "new logic", migration-related globalization. These departures have consequences on Regions starting with the most visible are the remittances from migrants and investment, more or less supervised by state or private structures working with inclusive approach.

Dans le cadre de cette thèse, nous nous intéressons à l'étude des décisions des ménages ruraux Ougandais en termes de gestion des risques climatiques. Dans un premier temps, nous testons l'impact des transferts des fonds des migrants sur le niveau de spécialisation des cultures agricoles ainsi que le niveau de risque du portefeuille des cultures des ménages contraints par l'accès aux marchés du crédit et de l'assurance. Nous complétons cette première analyse avec une étude sur la capacité des transferts des migrants à encourager les ménages à utiliser des inputs plus risqués tels que les engrais. Dans un troisième temps, nous explorons si le morcellement des terres peut réduire les effets négatifs de la variabilité des précipitations sur les rendements des cultures agricoles. Le dernier objectif de cette thèse est d'analyser l'impact de l'inégalité d'accès à l'eau sur l'intensité et l'incidence des manifestations et des émeutes au sein d'un pays. Le point central et commun aux différents chapitres est la variabilité climatique : quelles sont les conséquences pour les ménages agricoles ; comment les ménages peuvent se protéger contre les aléas climatiques et quelles sont les implications pour la disponibilité de l'eau et les conflits. Telles sont les questions que la thèse vise à aborder à travers une approche micro-économétrique. / The dissertation provides evidence on the agricultural decisions of rural Ugandan households in terms of risk management against weather variability. First, I study the impact of remittances sent by migrants on households' degree of crop specialization and crop riskiness, as remittances may, to some extent, relieve credit and risk constraints. I complete the first objective with a second analysis that explores if remittances can motivate households to use riskier inputs - fertilizers. Third, I examine whether land fragmentation can reduce the negative impacts of rainfall variability on farmers' crop yields. In the final chapter, I test whether inequality in access to water for consumption may increase the incidence and the intensity of low-level conflicts. The central and common theme of the different chapters is weather variability: what are the consequences for agricultural households, how can households protect themselves against weather fluctuations and what are the implications for water availability and social conflict. Those are the questions that the dissertation aims at addressing with a micro-level empirical approach.

Cette thèse examine différents aspects du financement de la santé et ses effets sur l'accumulation de variables stratégiques pour le développement. Le deuxième chapitre analyse les effets des risques de maladie sur l'éducation des enfants en utilisant un model théorique et empirique qui lie les risques (pour les parents) de tomber malade et le choix de l'éducation. Nous trouvons que, s'il est impossible pour les parents de demander plus d'argent en cas de maladie, une augmentation de la probabilité de tomber malade implique une réduction de l'éducation des enfants. Le chapitre trois étudie empiriquement l'effet de l'assurance maladie sur l’enfant en employons la méthode de scores de propension pour analyser l'effet moyen du traitement (chef de ménage ayant une assurance santé ou non) sur les traités. Nous trouvons que l'assurance maladie favorise l'éducation des enfants. Le chapitre quatre étudie, en utilisant le modèle de générations imbriquées, les effets du financement de la santé sur la croissance économique. Le gouvernement a deux possibilité: soit de co-financer la santé, soit la financer tout seul en utilisant une taxe sur la production. Nous trouvons que, s'il y a hétérogénéité des préférences des agents, le financement public domine le co-financement public-privé. Le dernier chapitre étudie les effets d’épidémies sur la pauvreté, dans un modèle de générations imbriquées continu. Nous trouvons que l'investissement dans les variables qui réduisent la transmission de la maladie est nécessaire pour pousser d'un état stationnaire avec faible consommation/niveau d'actifs vers un état stationnaire avec un mixe consommation-niveau d'actifs plus élevé. / This thesis explores different aspects of the financing of health care and how it affects various facets of the economy. Chapter two we studies the relationships between health risks and education using both a theoretical and an empirical model. We find that considering a child's income as an insurance asset can reverse the usual negative relationship between disease prevalence and educational investment. Chapter three empirically looks at the impact of health insurance on the child using the propensity score matching technique. We find that while the health insurance status of the household has a positive effect on the enrolment of children, its effect on child work is negative. In chapter four we analyse the impact of health care financing on economic growth, focusing on the issue of joint public-private financing of health care using an overlapping-generations model with endogenous growth based on health human capital accumulation, where families pay for childhood preventive care and the government can either fully finance or co-finance adulthood curative care. From a growth maximising perspective, if agents are assumed have heterogeneous preferences, full public financing can become the best option. Finally in chapter five we study how health shocks in the form of epidemics affects the economy in a continuous OLG model by focusing on how the economy could be pushed to a higher consumption-assets combination. We find that it is necessary for the government to invest more in the reduction of transmission rates if its goal is to eradicate the disease from the economy, achieving a higher consumption-assets mix.

This thesis within economics is examining the impact that remittances could have on the level of new small and medium sized enterprise start-ups. Remittances could be seen as a capital flow and would therefore increase the level of new SME start-ups but is this really the case? A model is developed with a panel data set over 45 countries all across the globe over a two year period. Six businesses environment variables are included in the regressions to see how the businesses environment affects the level of new SME start-ups. This model is also used when testing if the relationship between remittances and the level of new SMEs are stronger in the middle income countries than in the lower income countries. The descriptive statistics shows that both remittances and the number of new SME`s have increased from 2003 to 2005. The level of new SME`s have increased with a larger percentage share in the middle income countries relative to low income countries. The results from this thesis are somewhat difficult to interpret. Although there seems to be the case that remittances are not affecting the level of new SME start-ups when including all the countries in the same regression. As the countries are divided into two groups one can see a stronger relationship between remittances and the level of new SME started in the low income countries than in the middle income countries. One can also see that credit right and the cost of starting a new business is strongly related to the level of new SME.

This paper has concluded that the Diaspora contribute to the development of social, economic and political fields, which also means a high level of poverty reduction. This has been largely possible not least because of developments in computing and telecommunications, but also through the Diaspora's grassroots involvement. By being the only player who can get access to specific locations, and through their local knowledge the Diaspora can easily be seen as legitimate actors and therefore also play a unique role in peace processes. They are also not tied to bureaucratic structures on which they can act with direct effect. For example, they can assist quickly to different kinds of crisis situations, such as environmental disasters. Many governments and organizations are interested in cooperating with the Diaspora, but they also see many challenges with it. Further on, Diaspora can feel that their voices are not always heard. The essay has also reached a conclusion that a balance between the UN's two main conventions International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights increasingly may arise. This is thanks to the co-operations between liberal organizations and the Diaspora whose efforts may be in the private markets to create jobs and development, and their contributions in construction of social infrastructure. Other impacts on the organizational level may be towards more complex models of organization and partnerships, where not least the private sector may be included to a greater extent, which also demonstrates the enhanced globalization trends, where the private market is seen to be the answer to the solution of poverty. As regards to States and the role of various actors in these somewhat newer landscapes, they can also be a result from the processes of globalization and shifts in power from the state to the different levels at which non-state actors gets a stronger role. These processes may also have contributed to greater regionalization; forces which this paper found over time may be a competitor to a weak UN (and the EU) and therefore attract the Diaspora who also may find themselves to be better received there.

This paper analyzes how remittance receipts affect labor force participation and daily time allocation of individuals residing in remittance-receiving households of rural Pakistan. In particular, I use the first Time-Use Survey of Pakistan (2007) to assess how members of remittance-receiving households distribute time over market production and its complements, namely, home production, leisure consumption and educational investment. I employ the statistical technique of propensity score matching to find a comparison group for individuals residing in remittance-receiving households. My results indicate that impact of remittances on daily activity sets cannot be analogously identified across genders. Men residing in remittance-receiving households devote less time to market production and consume more leisure. Women, on the other hand, invest more time in home production while maintaining the same level of market production.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal