Interpretation and
Enabling Institutions
Strengthening the business sector and
entrepreneurship in developing countries
United Nations
October 5, 2006
Natasha Iskander
Assistant Professor of Public Policy
New York University
natasha.iskander@nyu.edu
Diasporas and Development
Remittance flows
Private debt
$ billion and portfolio
175
FDI
equity
Recorded
remittances
150
125
100
75
50
ODA
10 countries
25
19
90
19
91
19
92
19
93
19
94
19
95
19
96
19
97
19
98
19
99
20
00
20
01
20
02
20
0
20 3
04
20 e
05
e
0
Source: World Bank. Global Economic Prospects 2006
Transnational Labor Markets
How do you promote business development and
entrepreneurship in this context?
Transnational Institutions

Institutions for business development
in transnational labor markets:
Financial services
 Infrastructure
 Knowledge
 Political stake/voice

Transnational Institutions

Institutions for business development
in transnational labor markets:
Financial services  BCP du Maroc
 Infrastructure
 Knowledge
 Political stake/voice

Interpretive engagement

What is it?
Collaborative interpretation
 Process of generating new knowledge about
transnational fields


Why do we need it?
Unmapped transnational fields
 New institutions that perform different
functions, based on different assumptions

La Banque Centrale Populaire




Moroccan state bank
Has served emigrants since 1969
Successful “bancarization” of emigrant
clientele
Tailor-made transfer, savings, and
investment products
“Bank of the Moroccans of the World”
BCP and emigrant deposits
BCP Moroccan Emigrant Deposits as a Share of Total National
Deposits, 1977-2002
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
7
8
9
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
1
2
197
197
197
198
198
198
198
198
198
198
198
198
198
199
199
199
199
199
199
199
199
199
199
200
200
200
0%
BCP MRE Deposit
Fuente: FMI; BCP
Strategy of Accompaniment

Repeated cycles of interpretive engagement
– 1969: Operation Moroccan Workers Abroad
– 1980s: Permanent settlement
– 1990s: Transnational space
Interpretive Engagement

Institutions for business development
in transnational labor markets:
Financial services
 Infrastructure  Innovative techno-social
models
 Knowledge
 Political stake/voice

Transnational Institutions

Institutions for business development
in transnational labor markets:
Financial services
 Infrastructure
 Knowledge  New concepts
 New organizational forms
 New approach to human
capital development
 Political stake/voice

Transnational Institutions

Institutions for business development
in transnational labor markets:
Financial services
 Infrastructure
 Knowledge
 Political stake/voice  New channels for
political voice and influence

Transnational Labor Markets
How do you promote business development and
entrepreneurship in this context?
•Transnational institutions for sustained economic activity
•Knowledge generation in transnational spaces
Transnational Labor Markets
How do you promote business development and
entrepreneurship in this context?
Response to institutional barriers that sever transnational
fields and prevent knowledge generation