The Impact of Remittances on Poverty and Human Capital: Evidence from Latin American Household Surveys

By Pablo A. Acosta, Pablo Fajnzylber, Humberto López. 2007

332 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This paper explores the impact of remittances on poverty, education, and health in 11 Latin American countries using nationally representative household surveys and making an explicit attempt to account for one of the inherent costs associated with migration-the potential income that the migrant may have made at home. The main findings of the study are the following: (1) regardless of the counterfactual used remittances appear to lower poverty levels in most recipient countries; (2) yet despite this general tendency, the estimated impacts tend to be modest; and (3) there is significant country heterogeneity in the poverty reduction impact of remittances' flows. Among the aspects that have been identified in the paper that may lead to varying outcomes across countries are the percentage of households reporting remittances income, the share of remittances of recipient households belonging to the lowest quintiles of the income distribution, and the relative importance of remittances flows with respect to GDP. While remittances tend to have positive effects on education and health, this impact is often restricted to specific groups of the population.

Subfields: General Health Professions, Safety Research, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b1b3fddca0227d07ea722b35a22922283db85432

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In General Health Professions

In Safety Research

In Sociology and Political Science

Citations in the corpus

Remittances, Liquidity Constraints and Human Capital Investments in Ecuador (2009, neutral): “In a study on 11 Latin American countries, Acosta, Fajnzylber, and López (2007), also using migration networks as an instrument, find that remittances are associated with increased educational attainment in only six countries (Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador, Haiti, and El Salvador), the…”
International Remittances and Human Capital Formation (2014, background): “On the contrary, Acosta, Fajnzylber, and Lopez (2007) found a negative effect of remittances on educational attainment in the Dominican Republic, and Meza and Pederzini (2008) stated that remittances in rural Mexico have a negative effect on school achievement.”
Economic Importance of Agriculture for Poverty Reduction (2010, background): “One source of extra money known to be especially effective in reducing poverty is remittances from people who work abroad ( Acosta, Fajnzylber and Lopez 2007 ).”
Do remittances promote financial development (2011, background): “, Acosta et al. (2007), Calero et al. (2009), Adams and Cuecuecha rantes and Pozo (forthcoming), and Bredl (forthcoming) analyze nces on education.”
Migration, entrepreneurship and development: critical questions (2017, background): “Remittances can also facilitate increases in household spending on education (Acosta et al. 2007; Cox Edwards and Ureta 2003), health services (Hildebrandt and McKenzie 2005; Mansuri 2007) and savings or investments (de Haas 2005).”
Impact of remittances on economic growth and poverty reduction amongst CIS countries (2019, background): “Supporting such evidence, Chami et al. (2008), using panel data for 113 countries over the period 1970–1998, conclude that remittances differ greatly from private flows in terms of motivation and they do not appear to be a significant source of capital for economic development, since they could redu”
International Migration as a Tool in Development Policy: A Passing Phase? (2008, background): “The impact of remittances on poverty and human capital: Evidence from Latin American household surveys/ in ?. ?zden and M. Schiff (eds.)”
The Impacts of International Migration on Remaining Household Members: Omnibus Results from a Migration Lottery Program (2009, background): “Acosta et al. (2007) find higher weight for age and height for age among children in migrant families in Nicaragua and Guatemala.”
Accounting for Remittance and Migration Effects on Children's Schooling (2010, neutral): “Yet, perhaps contrary to what one would expect from the income effect due to increases in non-labor income, Acosta et al. (2007) conclude that remittances do not raise educational attainment in the Dominican Republic 4 .”