Of corridors and dyads: unpacking the family dynamics of remittance transfers to Albania and Ecuador

Set within the broad debate on migration, development and remittances, this paper makes a comparative analysis of two migration-remittance corridors in contrasting regions of the world: Ecuador-USA and Albania-Greece. Operating mainly at the micro-level and based on two questionnaire surveys of remittance receiving households supported by in-depth interviews, we unpack the family dynamics of remittance transfers through an analysis of person-to-person dyads. We pay particular attention to gender relationships how they both shape, and are shaped by, migration and remittances. We develop a typology of remittance uses 'dripfeeding', debt repayment, 'emergency' money, gifts and in-kind transfers, collective remittances and social remittances comparing results from the two studies. On the whole we find many similarities between the two studies, not only as regards the survey results but also in the way the remittance corridors are embedded within structural relationships of dependency at various levels.