JBS Vol 14. Num 2. 2012 - Bangladeshi Workers in New York City's Informal Markets: An Analysis of Remittance Decisions

Bhaswati Sengupta
Abstract

This paper presents a study profiling low-skill immigrants from Bangladesh who work in informal markets in New York City's largest borough, Queens. It explores their economic circumstances and decisions, against the backdrop of the larger Bangladeshi population in New York City, its fastest growing immigrant group in the last two decades. Drawing on primary data collected through surveys of street vendors, restaurant workers, hawkers, etc., who constitute the lowest economic strata of this group, it examines the remittance-sending behavior of their households and whether or not they perceive microloans as beneficial to their employment prospects in the United States. Survey results suggest a strong incidence of remittances in this population, and the existence of wide familial networks in Bangladesh that benefit from these transfers. A double hurdle model fitted to remittances finds that income, household size in the U.S. and loans taken out in Bangladesh for emigration are important determinants of remitting behavior. As a secondary question, this study considers the familiarity with and demand for microloans in this population, finding a strong incidence of both, making it a prime demographic for Grameen America's operations in New York as it extends its reach in its formative years. Since remittance transfer costs are often regressive and work against poorer migrants, Grameen Bank could play an innovative role in the transfer operations
of its Bangladeshi borrowers, an area into which it has made recent inroads for cross-border remittances from India.