As Aldrich (1982) points out, brokers in networks are created by the search to reduce transaction costs (288). Within the GDN, the broker links actors with complementary interests, and facilitates the transfer of information, financial and investment capital, human capital, and technology. In general, respondents in various sectors of the DPE have noted the limited participation of Caribbean households, communities and firms in the development, marketing or maintenance of the infrastructure of services used by the Caribbean Diaspora in North America.
The study suggests that higher participation by Caribbean firms and households as brokers rather than senders/receivers in the diasporic economy is a superior strategy for reducing the costs associated with diasporic transactions. It also implies that rather than attempt to redirect existing financial flows, much of which already represents a return on previous investment towards productive uses, attention in the Caribbean should be paid to adding to the range of services available to various tiers of the Diaspora to both improve their long-term prospects of higher-incomes and generate profits that might contribute to productive investment in the region.
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