Transmigrants, the integration process and links with the country of origin

Odo Barsotti, Università di Pisa
Federico Benassi, University of Bari and University of Pisa
Linda Porciani, University of Bari and University of Pisa
Moreno Toigo, Simurg Ricerche
Silvia Venturi, Università di Pisa

The viewing of migrants as transnational actors implies that the integration process in the country of destination and the sense of still belonging to the country of origin should not be considered as conflicting notions. We have searched for empirical evidence in the data available from two surveys on a sample of migrants carried out in Western Tuscany. We have elaborated an Integration Index. This Index is the dependent variable in a linear regression model in which we considered certain socio-demographic indicators and two proxy variables of the sense of belonging: the amount of remittance flow and of investment flow towards the country of origin. The results reveal that the amount of remittances and the level of Index are in positive relation to one another, suggesting that the integration process in the country of destination is not in conflict with the persistence of relationship with the country of origin.