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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.  

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:

Announcing the International Conference on Diaspora for Development, July 13-14, 2009

Submitted by Sonia Plaza on Mon, 06/29/2009 - 11:43

The Migration and Remittances team of the Development Economics and Prospects Group (DEPG) of the World Bank is organizing an International Conference on Diaspora and Development on July 13-14, 2009 in Washington D.C. You are invited to participate in this conference and join economists, policy makers and other colleagues in the discussions. 

The diaspora of developing countries can be a potent force for development for their countries of origin, through remittances, but more importantly, also through promotion of trade, investments, knowledge and technology transfers. The conference aims to consolidate research and evidence on these issues with a view to formulating policies in both sending and receiving countries.

Call for papers: International Conference on Diaspora for Development, July 13-14, 2009

Submitted by Sonia Plaza on Thu, 03/26/2009 - 12:18

The Migration and Remittances team of the Development Economics and Prospects Group (DEPG) of the World Bank is organizing an International Conference on Diaspora and Development on July 13-14, 2009 in Washington D.C. 

The diaspora of developing countries can be a potent force for development for their countries of origin, through remittances, but more importantly, also through promotion of trade, investments, knowledge and technology transfers. The conference aims to consolidate research and evidence on these issues with a view to formulating policies in both sending and receiving countries.

The program committee invites economists (and non-economists as well) and policy makers to submit proposals for papers on related themes. Topics will include but are not limited to:

  • Demographic trends that will influence the destination and composition of the diasporas from developing countries.
  • Diaspora's economic and non-economic contributions to development through trade, investment, transfer of technology, skill transfer, institution building. (Ideally, we would like to cover topics other than remittances and brain drain on which much has already been written.)
  • Policies that deepen the diaspora's contribution to the development of the country of origin. For example, do diaspora bonds actually help mobilize financing for development? Does dual citizenship deepen the diaspora's ties to the country of origin?

Papers with a focus on Africa are especially welcome. Also papers dealing with developed countries are welcome if they draw lessons for developing countries.

Money transfers conference in London on November 17-18: New innovations in money transfers amidst crisis

Submitted by Sanket Mohapatra on Fri, 11/28/2008 - 11:33

I recently made a presentation on our outlook for remittances at the Money Transfers London conference. The discussions were lively and interesting and the topics included the impact of the EU payment services directive (PSD) and other regulatory changes for the money transfer industry, innovations in smart cards and mobile money transfers, and the impact of the current economic crisis, among others (see full conference agenda).

One development I found interesting was efforts to standardize training for Money Laundering Reporting Officers (MLROs) in the money transfer firms. To remain relevant in times of changing rules and regulations, these officials will need to be tuned to the messages coming from regulators not only through directives and websites, but also from speeches and interviews in the media.  

This conference and others organized by industry bodies such as the IAMTN are very useful because they provide a space for private sector participants to interact with regulators and development agencies, clarify new regulations and laws, and let us hear from practitioners on new developments and emerging technologies.