Replication Data for: Migrants as Engines of Financial Globalization: The Case of Global Banking

Does international migration contribute to the spread of global commerce? Recent work demonstrates the relevance of international migration for patterns of investment, focusing on migrants’ role in facilitating investment from their host country to their country of origin. By contrast, we investigate the potential for migrants to attract inward investment into their host country. As customers, migrants shape the composition of the market in the country where they live, such that global networks of migrants can shape investment decisions of co-national firms. Focusing on a single sector, banking, we identify the mechanisms by which international migration attracts foreign investment. First, migrants may prefer home country banks, especially if they are excluded from financial services in their host country. Second, migrants require financial institutions to send remittances to their country of origin. We test these arguments using a global sample of foreign bank ownership data and find that bilateral migrant networks are a predictor of cross-border banking investment. These findings speak to how the composition of markets affects international investment, as well as the reinforcing relationship between two features of globalization: international migration and financial integration.国际移民是否推动了全球商贸的扩散？既有研究揭示了国际移民与投资格局之间的关联性，其聚焦于移民在推动投资从东道国流向移民母国过程中所发挥的作用。与之形成对比的是，本文旨在探讨移民吸引外商投资流入其所在东道国的可能性。作为消费者，移民会塑造其居住国的市场构成，因此全球移民网络能够影响同国籍企业的投资决策。本文聚焦于银行业这一单一行业，厘清了国际移民吸引外商投资的具体作用机制：其一，移民可能更偏好母国银行，尤其是当他们在东道国无法获得当地金融服务时；其二，移民需要通过金融机构向其母国汇出侨汇。本文基于全球外资银行所有权数据样本对上述论点进行实证检验，结果表明双边移民网络可作为跨境银行投资的有效预测因子。上述研究结果不仅阐明了市场结构对国际投资的影响机制，同时也揭示了全球化两大核心特征——国际移民与金融一体化——之间的双向强化关联。