The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the authorThe overall aim of this thesis is to provide an holistic assessment of the\ud
financial practices of migrants in advanced Western economies using the\ud
analytical lens of risk. More specifically, this research argues that a geographical\ud
approach to risk, informed by concerns about time, space and place, is key to\ud
understand the full complexities of migrantsâ\u80\u99 financial decisionâ\u80\u90making. In so\ud
doing, this research contributes to an emerging body of work that recognises the\ud
need for a more nuanced understanding of migrantsâ\u80\u99 engagement with the\ud
formal and informal financial sectors.\ud
The study draws on a mixedâ\u80\u90methods research design, which includes 60\ud
inâ\u80\u90depth interviews and 53 structured questionnaire interviews with Congolese\ud
and Francophone Cameroonian migrants in London. Empirically, the project\ud
explores the formal and informal financial practices of the research participants\ud
in relation to banking, savings, credit, debt management, insurance as well as\ud
remittance sending. In addition, it reviews the different levels and types of risks\ud
encountered by migrants in their everyday lives, and how these shape their\ud
financial decisionâ\u80\u90making.\ud
The thesis develops a framework combining current thinking from risk\ud
research with transnational migration and economic geography scholarships in\ud
order to uncover the social and geographical embeddedness of migrantsâ\u80\u99\ud
financial decisionâ\u80\u90making. It shows how the risks of financial hardship managed\ud
through migration actually evolve across space and time so that some migrants\ud
find themselves confronted by the very same risks of economic and social\ud
exclusion they sought to avoid by moving. Most noticeably, this research shows\ud
how such risks are managed by migrants through â\u80\u98mixing and matchingâ\u80\u99 a range\ud
of informal and formal financial practices whereby the costs of being financially\ud
excluded are balanced against, and shaped by, migration histories and\ud
experiences of living in a highly financialised and increasingly migrantâ\u80\u90averse society