Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: Remittances and the Informal Economy in a Socialist Nation

随着世界各地从一个国家移徙到另一个国家的人口数量的增加，全球经济交易的一个同样重要的方面已成为移民者向被留在那里的人汇款。在较贫穷的国家尤其如此，包括那些国营经济表现不如其他国家市场经济的国家。这个博士论文研究项目将审查这样一种假设，即国外亲戚寄给古巴人的汇款在古巴发挥了积极作用，使收款人能够维持可接受的基本生活水平，从而使他们能够继续从事工资相对较低的专业职业。对非正规经济兴起的研究表明，在从社会主义经济向市场经济过渡期间，对非正规经济的参与有所增加。在这个部门赚更多钱的机会吸引了工人离开他们受过培训的专业，在非正规经济中工作。汇款是否起到了重要的抵消作用？以前的研究没有提供关于汇款可能影响非正式经济的动机和实际参与方式的数据。该项目将对300户家庭进行定量调查，然后对15户家庭进行深入深入的个人访谈和家庭预算。这些数据将用于检验收到稳定和大量汇款与就业类型之间的联系。这项研究将提供新的见解和资料，说明非正式活动有可能使专业人员离开他们的职业，并降低古巴社会和整个社会主义过渡社会对人力资本的利用。尽管其他研究认为，增加对非正规经济的参与对从社会主义向混合市场经济的转变过程是有害的，但本研究将阐明个人参与或退出非正规经济的动机以及个人将其主要职业重点放在何处。这项研究还将扩大与古巴的学术接触，并促进未来在古巴进行研究，此前大多数美国研究人员无法进入古巴。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项将为有前途的学生提供支持，使他们能够建立强大的独立研究事业。

As the volume of migration of people from one nation to another has increased around the globe, an equally significant facet of global economic transactions has become the remittance of funds from those who have emigrated to those who have been left behind. This is especially true in poorer nations, including those states whose state-run economies have not performed as well as market-based economies in other nations. This doctoral dissertation research project will examine the hypothesis that remittances sent to Cubans from relatives abroad play the positive role in Cuba of allowing their recipients to maintain an acceptable basic standard of living, thereby enabling them to continue to maintain their participation in relatively low-paying professional occupations. Studies of the rise of the informal economy have suggested that participation in the informal economy has increased during the time of transition from socialist to market economies. The opportunity to earn more money in this sector attracts workers to leave their trained profession to work in the informal economy. Do remittances play an important countervailing role? No previous studies have provided data regarding the ways that remittances may affect the motivation and actual participation in the informal economy. The project will combine a quantitative survey of 300 households followed by intensive in-depth personal interviews and household budgets for 15 households. The data will be used to test the links between the receipt of a steady and significant flow of remittances and type of employment.The research will provide new insights and information regarding the potential for informal activities to draw away professionals from their occupations and lower the use of human capital in Cuban society and transitional socialist societies in general. Whereas other studies have argued that increased participation in the informal economy has been detrimental to the process of transformation from a socialist to a mixed market economy, this study will shed light on what motivates individuals to engage in or withdraw from the informal economy and where individuals place their primary occupational emphasis. The research also will broaden scholarly contacts with Cuba and facilitate future research in a nation that previously has been inaccessible for most U.S. researchers. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.