INTER-AMERICAN DIALOGUE AND THE TOMÁS RIVERA POLICY INSTITUTE 1

initiated a project examining the potential contribution of remittances to social and economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean — as well as to the economic and social well-being of Latino communities in the United States. This paper is one of a series of working papers produced as part of the project. In this paper, Dr. Manuel Orozco examines the dynamic market in the United States and in Latin America that surrounds remittances. Waves of Latin American immigrants have entered the United States during the last few decades and there has been a significant increase in the amount of money that Latinos send home to their communities of origin. Unlike immigration studies in the past that concentrate on the senders and receivers of remittances, Dr. Orozco explores the new actors and activities emerging with the surge of remittances, actors that have also had direct and indirect impacts on community development. These players include money transmission companies, Latino nonprofit associations in the United States (hometown associa-tions in particular), government agencies, and international organizations. Dr. Orozco concludes that as competition between businesses continues to increase, more agents become involved in the transmission of remittances, and the financial services sector is regulated, immigrants and their communities of origin will reap greater benefits than they do presently. TRPI and the Inter-American Dialogue would like to express their gratitude to the Ford Founda-tion for its support of this project. Furthermore we would like to thank Dr. B. Lindsay Lowell of the Institute for the Study of International Migration for his invaluable contribution as project coordinator, and Jeannine Esposito of the Inter-American Dialogue for her help with the editing and production of these papers. This paper represents the personal opinions of its author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of TRPI or Dialogue members or staff. Rodolfo O. de la Garza Project Co-Directo