ARI Working Paper Series

This paper aims to provide insight into the way in which the education and skill level of migrants affects the remittance habits, purpose, and the use of the remitted money in the country of origin, in the context of Afghan, Egyptian and Serbian immigrants in Germany. The information about the remittance patterns of the immigrants was collected through guided interviews with key stakeholders of the immigrant groups, identified by a snowball sampling technique. While the conclusion whether skilled migrants remit more or less compared to low skilled ones is not straightforward, this study provides evidence that the skilled migrants are more likely to make productive investments in their countries of origin. The migrant’s endowment with human capital often assures that he/she earns more than he/she and his/her family require for meeting their basic needs and money is left for savings and investments. Moreover, the skills and expertise accumulated through education and work experience are also very important for the implementation of investment projects. However, investments remittances are strongly conditioned by the investment climate in the home country.