Time to Temper the Faith: Comparing the Migration and Development Experiences of Mexico and Morocco

Given their remarkable similarities in terms of the relative magnitude of emigration and its strategic economic importance, it is striking that Morocco and Mexico have rarely been systematically compared; indeed, existing comparisons have generally focused on border issues.

To fill this gap, in 2008 the International Migration Institute of the University of Oxford initiated the project Transatlantic Dialogues on Migration and Development Issues: The Mexico-US and Morocco-EU Experiences in close collaboration with Mexican and Moroccan researchers and policymakers (see sidebar for details).

This article briefly examines the migration history of each country, the drivers of migration, remittance trends, the effects migration has had on development, and the experiences of migrant associations and collective remittances. Based on evidence from the project, it then looks at ways to reframe the debate over migration and development.

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