Remittances and economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Impact of the human capital development

Remittances are one source of external financing for developing countries that have been increasing in both size and importance as of late. However, the issue about the impact on economic growth from remittances is still opened for discussion. This paper adds to this discussion by investigating the impact of remittances on growth through human capital using a panel data analysis for a sample of 14 Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries during the period 1975-2000. The results indicate that remittances have a positive impact on economic growth in the representative countries from the LAC region; however, the realization of this impact holds only when the remittance receiving country has a minimum threshold of human capital stock.