Does the desire to remit foster integration? Evidence from migrants in Spain

- We study the relationship between remittances and integration at destination.
- We use changes in macroeconomic variables as instruments.
- The desire to send remittances intensifies social activities and hence social integration.

We enquire empirically how migrants' desire to send remittances back home fosters integration at destination. Starting from a model by Stark and Dorn (2013) in which the aspiration to remit is shown to induce migrants to acquire costly host-country specific social and human capital in order to obtain higher income, we measure migrants' integration effort by social participation. Our results confirm the theoretical model.