THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL REMITTANCES FOR THE ECONOMY AND SOCIETY OF A LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRY

GREČIĆ Vladimir (Retired Professor of Labour Economics, University of Belgrade),

It is known that foreign remittances are current private transfers from migrant workers residing in the host country for more than a year to recipients in their country of origin regardless of their immigration status. Transfers of migrants are defined as their net income of which a portion is transferred from the host country to the country of origin at the time of migration. Compensation of employees is the income of migrants who have lived in the host country for less than a year. Remittances play an important role in the economic development of the countries of emigration, individual households and businesses. However, it is relatively unknown that non-monetary remittances are also of great importance for the migrant countries of origin. The author of this article is focused on the importance of non-monetary transfers, which are known in the literature as well as socioeconomic and cultural contribution. This article is based on the concept of Peggy Levitt (1998) non-monetary remittances as well as the expansion of social norms, practices and social capital to and from the countries of origin of migrants; which means that migration involves the flow of ideas, knowledge, identity, and cultural values. The article claims that the attitudes of migrants in their relationship with other social institutions such as the family and the state, help to understand better the specific contexts within the country of origin that may perpetuate or interfere with the networks of migrants, including the rapid emergence and consolidation of new networks. The author claims that the diaspora and migrants can play a key role in the development of the home country by the presentation of its rich and diverse experiences. Engaging the Diaspora in the development of the home country largely depends on it. Talented people remain an important component of the country and the enterprise’s long-term competitiveness. Therefore, special attention is paid to the role of highly skilled and highly educated migrants.

Keywords: migration, monetary remittances, non-monetary remittances, knowledge diffusion, development, Serbia