This study explores the evolution of inequality in Latin America during the COVID-19 pandemic using primary data available from household and employment surveys collected in 2020. Inequality increased on average by 2 percent between 2019 and 2020, twice the average annual growth in the...

Beyond Small Change examines the phenomenon of migrant remittances in hopes of contributing to international understanding of remittances, promoting better policies and practices in this area, and turning migrant workers' hard-won resources into a source of development for their homelands. This...

Workers' remittances have become a major source of financing for developing countries and are especially important in Latin America and the Caribbean, which is at the top of the ranking of remittance receiving regions in the world. While there has been a recent surge in analytical work on the...

In this paper we present evidence suggesting that international migrant remittances generally lead to improved developmental outcomes. Using a cross-section of Mexican municipalities in the year 2000, we show that increases in the fraction of households receiving international remittances are...

We identify whether remittances facilitate consumption smoothing during health shocks in Jamaica. In addition, we investigate whether remittances are subject to moral hazard by receivers, how the informal insurance provided by remittances interacts with formal health insurance, and whether there...

This working paper studies the effect of remittances from the United States on crime rates in Mexico. The topic is examined using municipal-level data on the percent of household receiving remittances and homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. Remittances are found to be associated with a decrease...

Using data from Mexican surveys of Microenterprises conducted between 1992 and 1998, we examine the association between migration to the US and investment in microenterprises, the use of paid and unpaid labor, and the earnings of micro entrepreneurs. We find that investments in microenterprises...

This report seeks to analyze the efforts among financial institutions to leverage the relationship between financial intermediation and remittance transfers. The impact of family remittances has been highlighted in the literature as an important one for development. A development impact is one...