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Does migration raise agricultural investment? An empirical analysis for rural Mexico

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  • Marcus H. Böhme

Abstract

The effect of remittances on capital accumulation remains a contested topic. This article uses a panel data set from rural Mexico to investigate the impact of remittances on agriculture and livestock investments. After controlling for the endogeneity of migration through an instrumental variable estimation our empirical results show that international migration has a significantly positive effect on the accumulated agricultural assets but not on livestock capital. This suggests that households use the capital obtained from international migration only to overcome liquidity constraints for subsistence production whereas migration itself seems to be the superior investment option compared to other productive activities such as livestock husbandry.

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  • Marcus H. Böhme, 2015. "Does migration raise agricultural investment? An empirical analysis for rural Mexico," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(2), pages 211-225, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:agecon:v:46:y:2015:i:2:p:211-225
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    3. Piras, Simone & Vittuari, Matteo & Möllers, Judith & Herzfeld, Thomas, 2018. "Remittance inflow and smallholder farming practices: The case of Moldova," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 70, pages 654-665.
    4. Mullally, C., 2018. "Migration and economic activity among origin households: the role of female household headship," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 276993, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. de Brauw, Alan & Kramer, Berber & Murphy, Mike, 2021. "Migration, labor and women’s empowerment: Evidence from an agricultural value chain in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    6. López-Feldman, Alejandro & Chávez, Estefanía, 2017. "Remittances and Natural Resource Extraction: Evidence from Mexico," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 69-79.
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    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development

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