Globalization, Migration and Development: The Role of Mexican Migrant Remittances

This note starts from the premise that, in current debates on the impact of globalization on economic development, the role of international migration has been under-emphasized. In an effort to contribute toward filling that gap, it presents evidence suggesting that remittances sent by international migrants are associated with improved developmental outcomes. Using a cross-section of all Mexican municipalities (over 2400) in the year 2000, it shows that an increase in the fraction of households receiving international remittances is correlated with better schooling and health indicators, and with reductions in poverty. These results are confirmed when we look at migration propensity instead of remittance flows. The econometric exercises control for the likely endogeneity between remittances and migration variables, on the one hand, and developmental outcome variables, on the other.