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carried to Ghana by migrants. 40 percent of these remittances were spent onhelp for network members or organizations in Ghana (including funerals,church donations education, health, community development projects andgeneral subsistence), and 50 percent were spent on investments on housingor business pertaining to the migrant him or herself. Almost 5 percent werespent on identity documents for travel to and stay in the Netherlands, anda remaining 5 percent were for miscellaneous expenditures (Mazzucato2005).At the same time, almost 60 percent of non-consumption expenditureswere spent in the Netherlands. Non-remittance expenditure patternsshow in what way migrants participate in the Dutch economy as well asthe consequences of Dutch migration policy on migrants’ ability to sendmoney back home, i.e., their contribution to development back home. Indiscussions of whether migrants support the neighborhoods and cities inwhich they live, much focus is on whether they start their own businessesor buy their own homes. However, migrants, as inhabitants, can supportthe neighborhood, city, or country in which they live in many differentways. Table 1 presents the major non-remittance expenditures items andtheir geographic destination based on the transaction study conducted withthirty Ghanaian migrants over a one-year period.Table 1. Geographic Destination of Largest Non-remittance Expenditure Items of AmsterdambasedGhanaian MigrantsNetherlandsNeighborhood Amsterdam OtherInternational• school fees• church/associationdonations• food shopping• liquor (forcelebrations ofrites of passage)• services (childcare, telephonecall centers,money transfers,travel agencies)• house purchase(real estateagencies)• rent (housingcorporations)• car purchase (2 ndhand stores)• housing andhousehold refusetaxes• personnel forown business• Dutch wax cloth(Vlisco)• business andincome taxes• health care taxes• lawyers• foreign police• “connectionmen” 1• Dutch embassyin Ghana• internationalphone calls• electronicappliances• airline tickets• shipments viasea freight• “connectionmen” 176Source: Transaction study 2003–2004. Table from Mazzucato 2004.Notes: characters in italic indicate items that represent non-productive investments. 1 Connection menrefer to those persons who facilitate the process of obtaining travel or residency papers in exchangefor a payment.