30142: Leiderman (inquiry) re 30133: remittances; "apres moi, le divulge..." (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leiderman@mindspring.com


dear Readers:

thanks for Reuters' March 6 article today.  noting mention of Bendixen & Associates as InterDevelopment Bank's contractor to estimate remittances from Haiti's diaspora, I looked at the company's website.  the Haiti study was not there, but another one popped up that you might like to read in its entirety:

http://www.bendixenandassociates.com/press/eluniversal-feb32007.html
Feb 4, 2007 Remittances may be underreported -- Migrants may send even more money to family members back home than previously thought - as much as US$25 billion last year - according to a new study. The report, presented Friday by the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) also suggested that the remittances...etc.
Wire services  El Universal Domingo 04 de febrero de 2007

the fact that IDB contracted with Bendixen for both the Haiti estimate and this overall accuracy study makes me wonder about the Haiti figures.  here is another Haitian survey topic of considerable importance that news services, readers and foreign aid donors may take at face value unless or until it hits a political nerve.  foreign aid donors who take this one at face value could be particularly troublesome to the future of Haiti because, per UN discussions at the High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development that I attended last summer, foreign aid agencies, banks, etc. are beginning to rationalize reducing their aid to poor countries whose emigrants, exiles and refugees already make sizeable remittances.  their line of thought is, "Why send additional aid abroad when the migrants among us are already taking lots of money out of our economy and sending it back home?"

seen in this light, if Bendixen really believes that remittances are underreported -- "the study surveyed 2,415 adults across Mexico between August and September 2006, and had a margin of error of 2 percentage points..." -- then I'd say this reinforces the mindset of governments, banks and aid agencies who'd prefer to be stingy with their money.

we're right on the cusp of this trend.  a couple months ago, I believe I wrote the list that I found website evidence of hundreds of millions of IDB dollars and/or loan credits available to Haiti, but that only a very small portion of it had actually been accessed by the government.  are the doors open to Haiti or being shut, and how will IDB use Bendixen's conclusions about those pesky diaspora remittances?

en fin, who will write IDB and Bendixen to ask for the research method in the Haiti study, the size of the sample and whether they rely on personal replies or actual transaction records?  if the former, do people accurately state or inflate or deflate the amounts they report, and what back-up documentation do survey takers require?  if the latter, how does Bendixen get hold of your transaction records...Western Union, wire transfers, etc.?

http://www.bendixenandassociates.com/meet-the-president.html gives a bio on Mr. Bendixen.  Bendixen & Associates 2800 Ponce de Leon Blvd. Suite 1111 Coral Gables, FL 33134  Ph 305.529.9916 Fx 305.529.9069   Email: admin@bendixenonline.com

thank you,

Stuart Leiderman
leiderman@mindspring.com