Migrazione femminile e sviluppo : la forza delle connessioni

Women Migration and Development: the Strength of Connections Summary- The paper considers the role of women in the migration flows between two coasts of the Mediterranean adopting Hirschman’s sequential approach of development. It examines how this specific migration informs development in either migrant-sending (Chaouia-Ouardigha–Morocco) and migrant-receiving (Lombardy – Italy) regions. Despite the migratory flows of women from Morocco are mainly determined by family reunions, conventionally considered as marginal because not economically productive, women’s agency influences the use of remittances. One empirical finding of the study deserves special notice: the indirect and long-term effects -via backward and forward connections- on the accumulation of social and human capital of both migrant and non migrant second generations. The dilemmas of the institutional regulation of migration and of integration policies, have been also considered. JEL Classifications: O15 -