Determinants of Productive Investment through Migrants' Remittances in Rural Central Asia

This article, which is based on original data and field work, presents a comparative study of the remittance earnings and the developmental impacts on the sending regions of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in light of rational and social institutionalism. Relatively less productive investments were seen associated with remittances, and there were a large share of consumptive investments out of remittances in both cases. I contend that path dependent social environment plays a greater role in potential migrants' decision-making and potential developmental outcomes than dominant theories suggest. Thus, while designing new state institutions reformers should take into consideration stubborn legacy of the Soviet era policies and their shadow in the minds and behaviors of individuals as well as social and political institutions.