Interrelations between Public Policies, Migration and Development in the Dominican Republic

Interrelations between Public Policies, Migration and Development in the Dominican Republic is the result of a project carried out by the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Sociales (CIES) in the Dominican Republic and the OECD Development Centre, in collaboration with the Ministerio de Economía, Planificación y Desarollo (MEPD) and with support from the European Union. The project aimed to provide policy makers with evidence on the way migration influences specific sectors – the labour market, agriculture, education, investment and financial services and social protection and health – and, in turn, how sectoral policies affect migration. The report addresses four dimensions of the migration cycle that have become an important part of the country's social and economic contexts: emigration, remittances, return and immigration. The results of the empirical work confirm that even though migration contributes to development in the Dominican Republic, the potential of migration is not fully exploited. One explanation is that many policy makers in the Dominican Republic do not sufficiently take migration into account in their respective policy areas. The Dominican Republic therefore needs to adopt a more coherent policy agenda to do more to integrate migration into development strategies, improve co-ordination mechanisms and strengthen international co-operation. This would enhance the contribution of migration to development in the country.