Remittances, Inequality and Poverty: Evidence from Rural Mexico

This paper explores the impact of migration and remittances on the distribution of rural income and on rural poverty, using Gini and poverty decomposition techniques and data from the 2003 Mexico National Rural Household Survey. Impacts of migrant remittances on income inequality have been a focus of considerable economic research. However, findings often have been contradictory, and a unifying theory of remittances and inequality has been elusive. Impacts of remittances on poverty largely have been ignored in the development economics literature, and there has been no effort, to our knowledge, to estimate the influence of remittances on rural poverty in Mexico using household data.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Decent Work and Economic Growth

Sustainable Cities and Communities

Partnerships for the Goals