Beyond Consumption: Household, Investment and Symbolic Logics in Migrant Remittance Allocation

This study examines the multidimensional nature of remittance allocation, moving beyond the traditional consumption-centred perspective. Whereas previous research has often analysed individual remittance uses separately, focused on transfer volumes or treated alternative purposes as mutually exclusive, this study investigates the relative importance migrants assign to a broad set of remittance destinations, revealing their underlying priorities and value hierarchies. We draw on original data from a face-to-face survey of 1,359 international remitting migrants residing in Italy. Principal Component Analysis identifies three latent dimensions of remittance allocation: (1) essential household needs, (2) productive and entrepreneurial investment, and (3) symbolic and community-oriented purposes. Multivariate regression models show that these remittance logics are shaped by different determinants. Income, return intentions and transnational engagement are associated with investment-oriented remittances; education, gender and migrants’ dual embeddedness shape symbolic remitting; household vulnerability and migrant income primarily explain consumption-oriented transfers. The findings show that remittances reflect plural and context-sensitive rationales rooted in migrants’ resources, obligations and transnational affiliations. By unpacking the relative prioritization of remittance uses, the paper advances a multidimensional understanding of migrant agency and highlights the productive, social and protective functions of remitting practices.