Re-branding remittance fee reduction policy goals

From Combating Terrorist Financing to Poverty Alleviation

Bibliographic Data

ID5680831
AuthorsSamuel Macisaac (0000-0001-6444-3116, Carleton University, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume21
Issue2
Pages129-151
Publication date2021-03-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueConflict Security and Development (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1467-8802 • E-ISSN: 1478-1174
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14678802.2021.1920235
OpenAlexW3164177769
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited56

After the 2001 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York, attention to informal migrant remittance flows were increasingly seen as a tool for terrorism financing due to their lack of oversight. After increased regulation was deemed to have the adverse impact of reducing the appeal of formal alternatives, security scholars and practitioners resorted to formalisation policies through transfer fee reductions that make formal options more accessible. In international development circles, similar policies gained traction. International commitments, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 10c) and objective 20 of the 2018 Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, aim to lower transfer fees to promote remittance growth and alleviate poverty. This article scrutinises the shift in remittance policy framing, primarily driven by security concerns, to promote development. Findings suggest the 9/11 terrorist attacks provided the punctuation that gave institutions the policy tractability to act upon pre-existing privatisation motives within Bretton-Woods institutions. The findings contribute to the understanding of policy creation and the cross-pollination of policies in the security-development space

Appeal · Business · Development economics · Economic growth · Economic policy · Economics · Political science · Poverty · Remittance · Terrorism · Employment and Welfare Studies · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Finance