International remittance rails as infrastructures: embeddedness, innovation and financial access in developing economies
International remittance rails as infrastructures: embeddedness, innovation and financial access in developing economies
复制标题
国际汇款作为基础设施：发展中经济体的嵌入性、创新和金融准入
DOI：
10.1080/09692290.2019.1607766
复制
发表时间：
2019
影响因子：
4.3
通讯作者：
W. Grimes
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Daivi Rodima‐Taylor;W. Grimes
摘要 向发展中经济体的汇款是其最重要和最一致的资本流入形式之一，但长期以来一直受到跨境支付相关成本和风险的限制。新的数字平台降低了这些，对金融包容性和经济发展产生重大影响。汇款是发展中国家参与国际金融的重要组成部分，为增强权能和脆弱性带来了新的机会。本文从基础设施的角度分析了发展中国家国际汇款的最新发展。基础设施视角揭示了不同汇款途径和机构之间的重要交汇点，描述了它们的空间配置和关系以及它们影响权力差异的潜力，并允许对数字颠覆的社会嵌入观点。通过借鉴非洲和亚洲的例子，我们表明，新一代汇款基础设施最好被理解为多种要素的组合，连接依赖当地创新的垄断干线，穿越“最后一英里”到达最终用户。本地网络和创新的活力和不可或缺性，以及核心平台之间的竞争，即使在受贫困困扰的社区中也能提供重要的机构和经济机会。
Abstract Remittances to developing economies constitute one of their most important and consistent forms of capital inflow, but have long been limited by costs and risks associated with trans-border payments. New digital platforms lower these, with significant implications for financial inclusion and economic development. Constituting an important element of developing countries’ engagement with international finance, remittances engender new opportunities for empowerment and vulnerability. This article analyzes recent developments in international remittances to developing countries through the lens of infrastructure. The infrastructural perspective reveals important junction points between diverse money transfer pathways and institutions, depicting their spatial configuration and relationality as well as their potential to affect power differentials, and allowing for a socially embedded view of digital disruption. Drawing on examples in Africa and Asia, we show that the new generation of remittance infrastructures are best understood as assemblages of multiple elements, conjoining monopolistic trunks that depend on local innovations to traverse the ‘last mile’ to reach end-users. The vibrancy and indispensability of local networks and innovation, along with competition among core platforms, allow for significant agency and economic opportunity even among communities beset by poverty.