|
|
AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
Show panel list
Looking at migrant-financed development from both sides: Ghanaian migrant organizations in The Netherlands and their communities at home
| Panel |
42. Transnational spaces/cosmopolitan times: African associations in Europe
|
| Paper ID | 422 |
| Author(s) |
Mazzucato, Valentina ; Kabki, Mirjam
|
| Paper |
No paper submitted
|
| Abstract | Most research on migrant involvement in community development is quite positive about migrant organizations’ contribution to the development of their home communities. Such research bases its findings by studying migrant organizations abroad. This paper, however, starts with the observation from home communities in Ghana that not all migrant-financed development projects are equally successful. The paper uses a simultaneous matched sample methodology by studying 5 villages and towns in Ghana and their respective migrant organizations in The Netherlands concomitantly. By comparing successful with unsuccessful migrant-financed projects, it identifies the most important factors that make some rural communities able to successfully involve migrants in their development while others not. Communities with 3,000 to 7,000 inhabitants are found to generally have effective sanctioning systems, active leaders and high levels of trust, both at home and in their migrant organizations abroad, leading to higher chances of successful migrant involvement in development. |
|