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September 2009

Second International Migration and Development Conference

Submitted by Çağlar Özden on Mon, 09/28/2009 - 15:53

The World Bank, jointly with Agence Française de Développement (AFD), organized the Second International Migration and Development Conference on September 10-11th. The organizing committee consisted of Caglar Ozden and Maurice Schiff of the World Bank and Hillel Rapaport of Bar Ilan University (currently visiting Harvard University). This was a follow-up of the conference in Lille, France in June 2008, after which AFD agreed to sponsor a conference every year. The next conference is scheduled to be held at the Paris School of Economics in June 2010, hosted by Francois Bourguignon, former Chief Economist of the World Bank.

The conference program included the latest papers by the leading academics and researchers addressing a wide range of issues on the development and the migration nexus. Among the topics were migration and institutions, illegal migration, link between poverty and migration, human capital formation and migration, self-selection, migrant networks and social externalities. A total of 38 papers including two keynote addresses via parallel sessions were presented.  

Business as Usual in Guatemala

Submitted by Sanket Mohapatra on Tue, 09/15/2009 - 11:13

Santa Catalina Arch, Antigua, Guatemala. Photo © Sanket Mohapatra/World Bank

I recently made a presentation on the impact of the financial crisis and our outlook for remittances in 2009-10 at a conference on improving central bank measurement and procedures on remittances organized by CEMLA and the Banco de Guatemala on September 8-10. My colleague Jacqueline Irving presented on a global survey of central banks.The sessions and interactions with the participants made me aware that central bankers are not just interested in measuring remittances accurately, but are thinking about a range of issues that affect both remittances and migration—ranging from how exchange rate movements can create incentives to send remittances for investment motives, to intra-regional and bilateral migration flows.
 

2nd International Conference on Migration and Development: Sept. 10-11, 2009

Submitted by Sonia Plaza on Wed, 09/09/2009 - 17:51

The Second International Conference on Migration and Development will be held at World Bank headquarters from September 10-11, 2009. The conference will bring together some of the world’s top academics and researchers in the migration field. Speakers will present their recent research findings on the most important questions in the debate on migration, remittances and development. Some of the questions that presenters will address are: