Abstract

ARROYO ALEJANDRE, Jesús  and  CORVERA VALENZUELA, Isabel. Actividad económica, migración a Estados Unidos y remesas en el occidente de México. Migr. Inter [online]. 2003, vol.2, n.1, pp.36-58. ISSN 2594-0279.

This article identifies the relationships among migration to the United States, monetary remittances, and economic activity in 50 municipalities in Western Mexico. In 2002, Mexico received US$9.8 billion in remittances, which was used primarily to support a great number of families remaining behind in Mexico. In this article, we claim that this money is not fundamentally important for economic growth in Mexican communities nor does it have an annual multiplier effect, as is often claimed. The multiple regression models used here reveal that the relation between economic activity, migration, and remittances is slightly significant. The remittances have a greater relation to the service sector, which, in these municipalities, consists primarily of micro-enterprises. In conclusion, the idea that remittances meet the basic needs of the families that receive them is supported, but in many migrant-sending regions, those remittances are not a motor for economic growth.

Keywords : international migration; emittances; regional development; economic growth; Western Mexico.

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