Abstract:
In this paper, we
investigate the intertemporal evolution of the impact of internal and external
remittances on rural income inequality in the context of Mexico. Using income
decomposition techniques on a Mexican household panel carried out every two
years, we find that both internal and external remittances have a positive
effect on rural equality. Although the external remittances become more and more
equalizing over time, we find that internal remittances are always more
equalizing than external ones. However, after imputations for the loss in the
potential home earnings of external migrant families, our findings indicate that
external remittances may have actually been increasingly unequalizing for rural
Mexican households.
