The Impact of Remittances on Poverty and Human Capital : Evidence from Latin American Household Surveys
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...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/06/7694723/impact-remittances-poverty-human-capital-evidence-latin-american-household-surveys http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7392 |
| Summary: | 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. |
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