Migration history, remittances and poverty in rural mexico

During the last twenty years, Mexico experienced a big increase in the migration of rural labor force to the United States. This phenomenon has been accompanied by an increase in remittances; by 2002, remittances accounted on average for more than 10% of rural households' income. In this context, the present work analyses the way in which the migration history of the recipient village affects the impact that reductions in remittances have on rural poverty levels. The hypothesis is that for a given decrease in remittances the increase in poverty is bigger in villages with a higher migration history. The results show that impacts do vary according to the migration history of the villages.