Remittances, migration and poverty. A study for Mexico and Central America

Nuñez, Roy and Osorio-Caballero, María Isabel (2021): Remittances, migration and poverty. A study for Mexico and Central America.

Abstract

In the last two decades, remittances have acquired great importance as a source of external income for various developing economies. In the particular case of the Latin America region, the United States represents the most important destination, with nearly 25 million Latinos living in this country. This paper analyses the effect that migration and the sending of remittances have on poverty in Mexico and Central America. The results show that a 10% increase in migration to the United States (as a percentage of the population in the destination country) translates into an 8.6% reduction in the population living on less than US$ 1.90 a day; while the poverty gap is reduced by 12.8%. With regard to the sending of remittances, a reduction of 6.7% is observed in the poor population and 10% in relation to the poverty gap. These results are in line with previous literature and, in general, are maintained to various specifications.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Worker remittances, poverty, international migration, instrumental variables
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business > F22 - International Migration; F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business > F24 - Remittances; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I3 - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty > I32 - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O15 - Human Resources ; Human Development ; Income Distribution ; Migration

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