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Migration experiences are often associated with some sort of transnational economic activity which connects the past and the present of migrants abroad, and specifically with remittances. Motivations to send money at origin have been deeply investigated at the micro as well as at the macro level, as remittances can affect recipient households’ well-being, investment and consumption levels in the receiving countries and play an insurance role against external shocks. This paper contributes to the literature on migrants’ remittances providing evidence for migrants from Morocco, Peru and Romania, three traditional labor-exporting countries with a medium level of economic development, from three different geographical areas and with different migration patterns to Italy. Exploiting a relatively rich, albeit small-scale, dataset we analyze the spatial distribution of migrants’ nuclear families and households and we build three different migratory profiles, Loners, Pioneers and followers, characterized by the timing and sequence of the migration event with respect to the rest of the nuclear family. Then author test a negative binomial model to describe the variation in the variable ‘remittances amount’. Beyond cross-country variations and after controlling for the most commonly used individual demographic and economic characteristics, our analysis consistently clusters migrants according to their family and household structure in Italy and abroad to explain the total amount of remittances sent to the origin country.

Monetary remittances represent the most visible transnational activity of migrants and can be considered as a function of migrant’s ability of producing savings from income and of remitting (supply side), and of the type of claims of family members, either left in the country of origin or residing abroad with the migrant (demand side). Hence, migrant’s remitting capacity is directly linked to the level of economic integration at destination. However, what happens to remittances when the labor market becomes uncertain and the earning potential decreases? Based on a recent survey, this paper explores the effect of the economic crisis on income trends and on the flow of monetary remittances sent to the families left home among three surveyed groups in Turin, Moroccans, Peruvians and Romanians. Results show a widespread worsening of the average economic conditions since the outbreak of the crisis in 2008. The protracted economic instability seems to have effects on migrants’ ability to keep remittance flows constant over time, with differentiated outcomes according to the national groups. While Moroccans show a higher propensity in receiving remittances, Peruvians are those who resist more to a remittance drop over the last five years. Beyond economic determinants, observed patterns in remittance trends can also be explained by migrant household characteristics in Italy and abroad and to unobserved variables (distance) related to the country of origin.