Uzbekistan new indd

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labor migrant households in Uzbekistan:  
remittances as a challenge or Blessing?
farrukh Irnazarov
1
 (2015)
Uzbekistan tops the list of both the number of mi-
grants in Russia in absolute terms and volume of re-
mittances sent from Russia. The majority of Uzbek 
labor migrants state that the ultimate goal of their mi-
gration campaigns is to earn enough money to open 
up their own business back home. However, very few 
can reach that goal, for several reasons I will discuss 
below. One of them is the expectation for celebrat-
ing lavish cultural ceremonies, among other wed-
dings, that reinforce social bonds and belonging to 
the group. Cognizant of the fact that it takes at least 
2-3 years of hard work in Russia (as well as in other 
popular destinations) to earn the amount required for 
arranging a wedding back home, it comes as a sur-
prise that wedding costs have been increasing during 
the last decade without local populations showing any 
sign of cutting expenses on such events. Ironically, 
people keep complaining about the expensive wed-
ding rituals, but nevertheless try to meet the so-called 
‘wedding standards’ within their communities.
The major goal of this study is to explore the 
possibility of transforming parts of this “unproduc-
tive” (from an economic perspective) spending into a 
more “productive” one. Here I examine the issue from 
an economic standpoint and do not consider the an-
thropological standpoint, which may have different 
definitions of the productive/unproductive dilemma. 
This study is based on 1,500 household surveys and a 
series of focus group discussions in Uzbekistan that 
were conducted within the framework of GIZ project 
“Impact of Remittances on Poverty in Central Asia” 
in 2013-2014. It is important to note that the surveys 
had been completed before the Russian economic 
crisis and, therefore, this study does not explicitly ac-
count for it. The paper starts with a general debate 
and analysis of literature on remittances and eco-
nomic growth. It then introduces the country-spe-
cific background, research questions, and hypothesis. 
The empirical part of the study portrays key charac-
teristics of Uzbek labor migrants, remittances, and 
spending patterns. The study ends with conclusions 
and policy recommendations.