The trade, migration, and development nexus

This paper deals with migrants' role in stimulating development in their countries of origin, outlining the three major channels through which migration can affect development: recruitment, remittances, and returns. It next turns to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), assessing the relevance of the Mexico-United States migration hump for migration, trade, and development elsewhere. The paper concludes that migrants can accelerate development in their countries of origin but finds nothing mechanical or automatic about the migration and development linkage. Countries growing and ready to grow can benefit from migration's three R's: recruitment, remittances, and returns. But in other cases, migration's three R's can prevent an economic takeoff. Thus, the answer to the question of whether migration accelerates development is simple: It depends.