Migrant Remittances and their Recipients

Abstract Before putting the book’s theoretical argument to the test, this chapter provides a descriptive overview of remittance trends around the world and considers the characteristics of remittances’ recipients in the region of interest. The first section of this chapter draws on cross-national data on remittances spanning three decades to offer an overview of remittance flows. The second section of this chapter leverages survey evidence from Central-Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia to sketch the profile of remittance recipients in this region. The chapter also considers how households use remittances. It finally draws on focus group data to explore what remittances mean to recipients, a first for the literature.