Migrants and Their Roles in Rural Development and Construction: A Case Study of Ramsheh Subdistrict in Isfahan County of Iran

Although dependency theory and its dominance in research literature caused negligence of the positive socio-economic impacts that migration had in rural areas, the impacts of migration on development have been considered with respect to migrants’ role and remittances on the welfare of the household, investment, and technological transfer. Considering the insufficient attention to the subject in Iran, this paper examined the role of rural migrants residing in cities on development of villages in Ramsheh subdistrict. The present research is an applied one and its methodology is descriptive- analytical. Required data was collected using field methods and filling questionnaires from rural households and migrants residing in cities.The results showed that migrants residing in Tehran maintained and strengthened their relationship and formed different social organizations. They aim to develop and prosper their birthplace villages. They have kept their farmlands and expanded them. They have sent remittances and transferred technology. They participated in village development and construction and direct investment in village industries. They had a major role in revival, and economic diversification of the village.