From the Culture of Migration to the Culture of Remittances: Evidence from Immigrant-Sending Communities in China

Extending the notion of “the culture of migration,” we propose and elaborate the concept of “the culture of remittances” to examine the flow of remittances in the immigrant-sending province of Fujian, China. We argue that the culture of remittances influences two important variables in the study of remittances: amount of remittances and whether they are used for public projects for the community. A careful statistical analysis using data from Fujian province supports our two major predictions. We also find that elite immigrants are more likely to use remittances for public projects in immigrant-sending communities. Our policy calls for more strategies and services in dealing with major concerns such as family members left behind (i.e., the elderly) in communities and increasing land use issues, as well as more proactive strategies to cultivate elite immigrants who are increasingly transnational and are likely to become catalysts for economic transformations in these communities and beyond.