Overview of transnational immigration and its impact on communities and businesses

1. Transnational
Communities
- not your g r andfather’s diaspor a -
Boston College
Alvaro Lima, July 2012

2. AGENDA:
I.Globalization – A Different Perspective
II.Immigration Studies – A Brief Background
III. What is “Immigrant Transnationalism” Anyway?
IV.Traditional versus Transnational Lenses
V.Measuring Transnationalism
VI.Some Implications of Transnationalism
VII.Transnational Entrepreneurship and its Implications

3. Globalization – A Different Perspective “compression of our spatial
and temporal worlds”
(D. Harvey)
Globalisation
Nation Feudal
States Tribes
Empires
”Globalization [...] as the
Globalisation as intensification of world-wide
Annihilation of Space/ social relations which link
Shrinking of the World distant localities in such a way
that local happenings are shaped
by events occurring many miles
“constraints of Geography
away and vice versa.” (Giddens
recede” (M. Waters)
1990, p. 64)
Dialectics of globalisation and localisation - glocalisation, global cities -
“space ... not only homogenised (and global), but always fragmented as
well. ... has not simply shrunk, but ... been transformed” (S. Kirsch)

4. Immigration Studies – A Brief Background
 Traditionally migration studies have been concerned with understanding the
origins and the impact of cross-borer flows;
 These flows have been understood mostly as a one way movement from sending
countries to receiving countries;
 Immigration policies have been almost entirely focused on procedures and
prohibitions governing admissions (who? how many? and what kind of
immigrants should be admitted?).

5.  There is a widespread belief that migration is caused by poverty, economic
stagnation, and overpopulation in the countries of origin unrelated to receiving
countries’ foreign policies, economic needs and broader international economic
conditions;
 While overpopulation, poverty, and economic stagnation all create pressures for
migration, there are systematic, structural relations between receiving countries’
policies and migration flows with worldwide evidence of a considerable patterning
in the geography of migrations.
poverty
stagnation
overpopulation
etc…

6. Foreign-Born Population of Rich OECD Countries from Developing Countries
Population Top Five
Total from Percent of Source
Top Five Source
Country Population Developing Total Countries
Countries
(millions) Countries Population (percent of
(millions) total)
United States 281.4 10.1 45.2 Mexico, Philippines, Puerto
28.4
Rico, India, China
Morocco, Ecuador,
Spain 40.8 1.5 3.7 44.2 Colombia, Argentina,
Venezuela
France 58.5 3.7 6.4 20.4 Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia,
Turkey, Vietnam
UK 58.8 5.1 30.1 India, Pakistan,
3.0
Bangladesh, Jamaica,
South Africa
Netherlands 16.0 1.2 7.6 48.6 Suriname, Turkey,
Indonesia, Morocco,
Netherlands Antilles
Portugal 10.4 0.5 4.5 62.8 Angola, Mozambique,
Brazil, Cape Verde,
Venezuela
Japan 127 1.0 69.6 North Korea, South Korea,
1.2
China, Brazil, Philippines
Source: Let Their People Come, Lant Pritchett, 2006

7.  Immigrant integration policies (education, training, placement,
ESOL, health care, entrepreneurship, citizenship, etc..) are
skeletal, ad hoc, under-funded and dominated by the ideology of
assimilation – the great melting pot of nations;
 As Nathan Glazer puts it, “the settlement, adaptation, and
progress, or lack of it, of immigrants is largely, in the U.S.
context, up to them.”
labor market
language acquisition
housing
education
etc…

8.  Re-integration policies for those returning are generally inexistent
making the re-settlement process prone to failure feeding back
emigration:
labor market
housing
education
etc…

9. What is “Immigrant Transnationalism” Anyway?
Transnationalism is “the process by which immigrants forge and sustain
multi-stranded social relations that link together their societies of origin
and settlement… (they) take actions, make decisions, and develop
subjectivities and identities embedded in networks of relationships that
connect them simultaneously to two or more nation states” (Mandaville
2001:45)

10. Drivers of Transnationalism
 Developments in the means of transportation and
communications have changed the relations between people
and places (costs);
 International migrations have become crucial to the
demographic future of many developed countries;
 Global political transformations and new international legal
regimes weakened the state as the only legitimate source of
rights;
 Fostered by global consumption, global production, and
immigration, cultural hybridization are substituting folkloric
romanticism and political nationalism enshrined as essences
of national cultures;

11.  Contexts of exit and modes of incorporation facilitate or impede, foster
or discourage, demand or preclude some or all cross-border activities:
Contexts of Exit and Incorporation
Context of Exit:
Context of Incorporation:
Education Level
Inclusion & Exclusion
Race & Ethnicity Structures
Family Wealth Alien versus Citizenship
Urban versus Rural Rights
Origin Government & Other
Government & Other Support Systems
Support Systems Race and Ethnicity
etc. Structures
etc.

12. Traditional versus Transnational Lenses
Traditional Lenses: Transnational Lenses:
immigration conceptualized as a bipolar relation immigration conceptualized as flows of cross-
between sending and receiving countries (moving border economic, political and social-cultural
from there to here) activities (being here and there)
emigration is the result of individual search for emigration is the result of geopolitical interests,
economic opportunity, political freedom, etc. global linkages, and economic globalization
migrants are assumed to be the poorest of the migrants are not the poorest of the poor nor do
poor they come from the poorest nations
immigrants occupy low-skilled jobs in growth in the service and technology-based jobs
agriculture, construction, and manufacturing create opportunities for low as well as high skilled
migrants
Immigrants steadily shift their contextual focus, After the initial movement, migrants continue to
economic and social activities to receiving maintain ties with their country of origin
country
immigration should not bring about significant immigration creates hybrid societies with a richer
change in the receiving society cultural milieu
12

13. Monthly Remittance by Nationality
$875
$900
$800
MEASURING
TRANSNATIONALIS
$700
$600
$500 $398
ABOVE AVERAGE M
$400 AVERAGE = $294
$331
$278 $274
$300 BELOW AVERAGE
$218
$192 $188 $185 $177
$200
$113
$100
$-
. r
zil do
r co al a an
a n R m b i a ag u a do ras b a
Bra Ecua éxi atem uy i ca
olo Nica
r l va du Cu
M u G m in C Sa H on
G Do El Purchasing of Nostalgic Products Among Brazilians
50.0% 45.4%
Financial Accounts in Country of Origin - Brazil 45.0%
40.0%
37.6% 35.0%
40.0%
30.0%
35.0% 25.0% 20.5%
28.9% 17.8%
20.0%
30.0% 26.0%
15.0%
25.0% 10.0% 5.1% 4.9% 3.7%
5.0% 1.6% 0.8% 0.2%
20.0% 0.0% ce s D s in es l s s
pi ,C ing ga z ks ho tte em he
rs
ds Ds o th / m a Boo lco igare t It Ot
15.0% n
s a os , D
V Cl rs A
C Cr
af
od pe
Fo i de pa
10.0% V ws
5.5% Ne
5.0% 1.6%
0.3%
0.0%
Does not Checking Savings Credit card Investment Foreign
have / NR account account account currency
savings

14. Help Beyond Remittances
50.0% 46.6%
45.0%
40.0% 36.80%
35.0% ABOVE AVERAGE
30.0% 27.0%
22.7%
25.0% AVERAGE = 19.2%
20.0%
20.0%
15.3%
14.0% BELOW AVERAGE
15.0%
10.3% 9.1%
10.0% 5.7%
3.7%
5.0%
0.0%
.
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ya
n
Br
az ad du mb rag ica xi c Cu ad ma
Gu Ec
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Ho Co Ni mi El
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Do
MEASURING Support of Hometown Associations
TRANSNATIONALIS 30.0%
26.3%
M 25.0%
20.0%
15.0% ABOVE AVERAGE
12.4%
10.0%
10.0% AVERAGE = 6.7%
6.7%
5.0%
4.0% 3.5% BELOW AVERAGE
5.0% 3.3% 2.8% 2.4%
0.0%
0.0%
a R. r
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az
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i
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14 Do

15. MEASURING
TRANSNATIONALIS
M

16. Some Implications of Transnationalism
 Portability becomes crucial for transnational
migrants – education and certification processes;
investment and retirement schemes, health
insurance, etc.;
 The concept of “community,” “society,” as well
as “the local,” must be redefined as space of flows
(relationships), pluri-local and nation-state-boarder
spanning, instead of bounded geographic places –
geographic and social container spaces;
 Transnational immigrant entrepreneurs’ contributions to the economy have
to be recognized as such and not as just “ethnic;”
 Nation-state ideals of identity in both sending and receiving countries are
challenged by transnational practices – double citizenship.
 States must re-conceive immigration and adapt their policies and
practices to accommodate transnational realities;

17. Transnational entrepreneurship
“Keeping Feet in Both Worlds”
“…the many social connections and organizations that tie migrants
and non-migrants to one another create a border-spanning arena
that enables migrants, if they choose, to remain active in both
worlds…”
 Transnational entrepreneurs have played an important role in facilitating
international trade, investment, and “diaspora tourism;”
 There is a remarkable
disparity between the
dynamism of transnational
enterprises and
governmental
misunderstanding or
ignorance of the
phenomenon;

18.  Transnational entrepreneurs are a heterogeneous group coming from many
countries, crossing ethnic, immigrant, and minority boundaries, and possessing
different motivations and experiences:
 The current market capitalization of publicly traded immigrant-founded venture-
backed companies in the United States exceeds $500 billion, adding significant
value to the American economy.
 About 50% of Indian and Chinese entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley “have set up
subsidiaries, joint ventures, subcontracting, or other operations in their native
countries” (Saxenian, Mtoyama, & Quan, 2002:37);
 For instance, 39% of the 289 companies located at the Hsinchu science-based
industrial park near Taipei were started by U.S.-educated Taiwanese engineers with
professional experience in Silicon Valley. Seventy of the firms maintain offices in
Silicon Valley to obtain workers, technology, capital, and business opportunities;
 Likewise, India’s technology-oriented diaspora stand behind much of the FDI in the
country’s emerging technology hubs of Bangalore and Hyderabad;
 About 60% of Hispanic immigrant entrepreneurs in the U.S. are transnational
(Portes, Haller, & Guarnizo, 2002);
 Migrant-founded venture-backed public companies today employ an estimated
220,000 people in the United States and over 400,000 people globally.

19.  Preliminary research suggests 4 distinct types of immigrant transnational
enterprises (Landolt et. al. 1999):
 Circuit firms - involved in the transfer of goods and remittances across
countries ranging from an array of informal international couriers to large
formal firms;
 Cultural enterprises - rely on their daily contacts with the home country and
depend on the desire of immigrants to acquire and consume cultural goods
from their country such as shows, CDs, newspapers, videos, etc.;
 Ethnic Enterprises - are small retail firms catering to the immigrant
community which depend on a steady supply of imported goods, such as
foodstuffs and clothing from the home country;
 Return migrant enterprises - are firms established by returnees that rely on
their contacts in the United States. They include restaurants, video stores,
auto sales and repairs, office supplies, etc.;

20. Transnational entrepreneurs do better economically than their waged co-ethnics
and pure local immigrant entrepreneurs (Portes and Zhou 1999; Logan, Alba, and
McNulty 1994; Wilson and Martin 1982):
Activities Linking Immigrants to Their Home Countries by Type of Economic Adaptation
Employee/
Ethnic Transnational
Wage Worker
Activity Entrepreneur Entrepreneur
% %
%
Imports Goods from Abroad 8.2 9.9 31.9
Exports Goods 6.5 8.9 18.1
Invests in Business in Home Country 5.9 11.7 26.4
Invests in Real Estate in Home Country 20.7 28.2 41.9
Has Been an International Courier 10.1 8.3 23.6
Hires at Least One Employee in Home Country 0 30.8 42.2
Frequency of Business Travel Abroad:
At least twice per year 7.1 17.3 28.4
Six times or more per year 0.9 6.1 14.6
Source: CIEP, 1998
Ethnic Transnational
Entrepreneur (% ) Entrepreneur (% )
Source: The Comparative Immigrant Entrepreneurship Project (CIEP); Center for Migration and Development (CMD); Princeton University.

21. Some Implications of
Transnational
Entrepreneurship:
 Transnational entrepreneurship is a promising form of integration;
Transnational integration and transnational entrepreneurship are highly
relevant to modern workings of global and gateway cities;
Transnational integration and transnational entrepreneurship provide
opportunities for business, social entrepreneurs, and governments;
Finally, the model presented can be generalized to include ethnic and
non-ethnic forms of social settlement and connections spanning multiple
borders.