A Taste of Home: The Nostalgia Trade and Migrant Economic Transnationalism

For more information, see Orozco, Lowell, Bump and Fedewa, “Transnational Engagement, Remittances and their Relationship to Development in Latin America and the Caribbean,” Institute for the Study of International Migration, Georgetown University, 2005. Available at https://​goo.​gl/​j68oVn

Indianna D. Minto-Coy, “The Role of Diasporas in the Growth and Internationalisation of Businesses in Countries of Origin” in Diaspora Business, Maria Elo & Liesl Riddle (eds.), Oxford, UK: Interdisciplinary Press, 2016. Available at https://​goo.​gl/​Wr1gko

Liesl Riddle, George A. Hrivnak, and Tjai M. Nielsen, “Transnational diaspora entrepreneurship in emerging markets: Bridging institutional divides,” Journal of International Management 16, 2010. Available at https://​goo.​gl/​vCvomQ

These products are high-quality both in the sense that quality is the first consideration of migrant consumers, and in the sense that stringent quality controls are in place for food products entering the U.S.

Total Salvadoran population is from World Bank Data, available at https://​data.​worldbank.​org/​indicator/​SP.​POP.​TOTL. For more detail on migrant population estimates, see Table 3.

American Community Survey, 2015. 1-year estimates. For more information, see https://​goo.​gl/​oZ5uFu

The study surveyed Salvadoran migrants in Los Angeles and Houston to find out which Salvadoran-style products they consumed. It then asked respondents whether the food was produced locally or imported from El Salvador. For more detail, see Batres-Marquez, Jensen, and Brester, “Salvadoran Consumption of Ethnic Foods in the United States,” Iowa State University, 2003. Available at https://​goo.​gl/​EAhqMp

For an additional and complimentary perspective, see Landolt, Aultler and Baires 1999, who note that “Our field research in Washington, DC and Los Angeles (…) unearthed a vibrant entrepreneurial community embedded in a web of social relations… There is a thriving formal and informal commerce of goods and services (…) sustained by micro, small and medium size transnational enterprises.” Patricia Landolt, Lilian Autler & Sonia Baires, “From Hermano Lejano to Hermano Mayor: the dialectics of Salvadoran transnationalism,” Ethnic and Racial Studies, 22:2, 296–297.

“Country Profile: El Salvador,” The Observatory of Economic Complexity, MIT. Available at: http://​goo.​gl/​atClP7

“INT encourages countries to diversify exports,” Inter-American Development Bank. Available at: http://​goo.​gl/​HYGTNI

This estimate is based on the following calculation: (1,200,000 foreign-born Salvadorans in the U.S.) × (90% consume nostalgic goods) × (Average consumption of $1500 a year on these goods) = $1,620,000,000. This estimate is conservative in that it does not factor in the nostalgic consumption of second and third generation Salvadoran migrants. As a point of comparison, remittances to El Salvador were approximately $4,000,000,000 in 2014.

See Table 4.

207 surveys were conducted among foreign born as well as second and third generation Albanians in the United States. The surveys were conducted over the period March–April 2015, and were completely voluntary and anonymous. The surveys were conducted in English and lasted approximately 10 min. 41 surveys were conducted in the metropolitan areas of Boston, 47 in Detroit, 97 in New York, and 22 in other cities throughout the United States, including 5 in Washington, DC. The sample unit was selected in city streets in neighborhoods with large Albanian populations, such as Pelham Parkway and Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. Other surveys were conducted, with the permission of community leaders, at Balkan community centers, children’s dance classes, Albanian language classes, religious centers, charity fundraisers, and factories. 75% of those interviewed were Albanian nationals from Albania, the rest were ethnic Albanians from Kosovo (15%), Montenegro (7%) and other locations like Bosnia, Macedonia, Greece and Italy (3%). The surveys sought to understand demand for Albanian products, any difficulties in finding Albanian products, general levels of transnational engagement, and demographic characteristics of respondents.

United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2013). Trends in International Migrant Stock: Migrants by Destination and Origin (United Nations database, POP/DB/MIG/Stock/Rev.2013).

According to World Bank Data, the current population of Albania is estimated to be 2.876 million. For more detail, see https://​data.​worldbank.​org/​indicator/​SP.​POP.​TOTL

USDOS, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Immigrant and Non-immigrant Visa statistics, https://​goo.​gl/​7rinVs

S0201: SELECTED POPULATION PROFILE IN THE UNITED STATES 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.

For more detail, see Orozco, Migrant Remittances and Development in the Global Economy, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder, 2013.

Interviews and site observations at local Balkan grocery stores also confirm these findings. Many grocers, for example, explained that Albanian style cheese actually comes from Bulgaria. They also mentioned that some Albanian-style sausages are actually produced in the United States.

For more on Albanian criminal organizations and why Albanian shipments might be of interest to U.S. authorities, see https://​goo.​gl/​dWstEJ

For more detail, see https://​goo.​gl/​L7Cci5 Page 33, Figure 42.