Migration, Remittances and Development: A Study of Caribbean Cane Cutters in Florida

Abstract

The results of a 1981 survey of 302 Caribbean sugarcane cutters who were temporary immigrants in Florida are presented. The focus is on remittances to the islands of origin. The results provide "no evidence that seasonal stateside employment expands agricultural output, or enhances the productive capacity of small farmers in the Caribbean."

Age Cohort, Ancestry, and Immigrant Generation Influences in Family Relations and Psychological Well‐Being among Black Caribbean Family Members

“…Interestingly enough, across all ages, ancestry and immigrant groups family members report giving more help (column 3) than they receive (column 2), even among the young and old, two groups who may need more help. This finding is consistent with prior literature on remittance behaviors and financial exchanges among Afro‐Caribbean immigrants (Basch, 2001; Palmer, 1995; Wood & McCoy, 1985). Alternatively, this finding also supports a model of motivation for all individuals to maintain a sense of independence, even in the face of significant need (Antonucci & Jackson, 1990).…”

An Evaluation of International Migration Theory: The North American Case

“…Fletcher and Taylor (1992) likewise found a shift away from family-intensive farming toward a greater use of tractors, herbicides, and hired laborall family-labor substitutes. In addition, Griffith (1986) reported a greater use of hired labor by migrant households in Jamaica, and Wood and McCoy (1985) found a marginal increase in the use of labor by migratory households on five Caribbean islands.…”

“…The combination of foreign wage labor with local work and other economic activities has been documented for the Dominican Republic (Bray 1984;Georges 1990;Portes and Guarnizo 1990;Grasmuck and Pessar 1991), Puerto Rico (Jackson 1984;Hernaindez Cruz 1985Rodriguez 1988), the English-speaking Caribbean (Palmer 1974;Rubenstein 1982Rubenstein , 1983Wood and McCoy 1985;Hope 1986;Levine 1987;Maingot 1991;Simmons and Guengant 1992), Central America (Poitras 1980;Funkhouser 1992;United Nations 1991), the Philippines (Griffiths 1979;McArthur 1979;Root and DeJong 1991), and, of course, Mexico (Reichert 1979(Reichert , 1981(Reichert , 1982Mines 1981;Dinerman 1982;Roberts 1982;Grindle 1988;Massey et al 1987;Durand and Massey 1992).…”

“…Although cultural effects are difficult to measure and quantify, elements of this culture have been widely observed in field studies in a variety of national and community settings. Many observers have commented on the expansion of consumerism in migrant communities, including fieldworkers in Mexico (Wiest 1973(Wiest , 1979Dinerman 1982;Mines 1981;Lopez 1986;Reichert 1981Reichert , 1982Massey et al 1987;Goldring 1992a;Alarcon 1992;Smith 1992;Fletcher and Taylor 1992;, the Dominican Republic (Georges 1990;Grasmuck and Pessar 1991), and the English Caribbean (Rubenstein 1979(Rubenstein , 1983Wood and McCoy 1985). Field investigators have also mentioned the emergence of social norms promoting international movement, especially as a rite of passage for young men (Mines 1981;Reichert 1982;Massey et al 1987;Georges 1990;Rouse 1990Rouse , 1992Alarcon 1992;Goldring 1992b;.…”

Remittances and Inequality: A Question of Migration Stage and Geographic Scale

“…Again, the reverse is true when migrants are from below-average-income families. Finally, host country factorssuch as the nature of the job at the destination (McArthur 1979), the wages earned and the cost of living at (and traveling to) a given destination (Rhoades 1979), the networks and channels through which money is remitted (Wood and McCoy 1985;Conover 1985), and the migrant's degree of integration into the host society (Massey 1986;Cornelius 1991;Jones 1992)-all strongly affect remittances and, in turn, inequality.…”