Migration to the United States and Mexican Rural Development: A Case Study

Abstract

An analysis of the impact of migration to the United States on the sending community and on the labor market in the receiving country is presented based on a case study of Las Animas, Mexico. "As the community becomes increasingly involved in migration, tendencies can be identified regarding changing migration patterns, class differentiation among villagers, impact of migration on village economy, and the changing role of Mexican workers in California labor markets. Results indicate the importance of social networks in determining the outcome of migration; while migration is individually rational, it is a factor of stagnation for village economy, and it helps reproduce segmented California labor markets."

Repeat Migration and Remittances as Mechanisms for Wealth Inequality in 119 Communities From the Mexican Migration Project Data

“…These findings, based on data from 119 communities in 21 states, generalize similar patterns observed by Cohen (2002) in 13 communities in Oaxaca, Jones (1995) in 4 communities in Zacatecas, Mines and de Janvry (1982) in a community in Zacatecas, and finally, Mines and Massey (1985) in two communities in Zacatecas and Michoacán.…”

“…Reichert (1982) found a highly differentiated class structure in a community in Michoacán, where legal U.S. migrants occupied the highest economic ranks, followed by undocumented migrants and non-migrants. Mines (1981) and Mines and de Janvry (1982) reported wealth disparities in a community of Zacatecas, where committed U.S. migrants owned more land than either temporary migrants or non-migrants. Dinerman (1978) and Wiest (1973) observed a similar pattern of economic differentiation in Michoacán as did Cohen (2001) in Oaxaca.…”

The Impact of Migration and Remittances on Wealth Accumulation and Distribution in Rural Thailand

“…Research also suggested remittances may produce a cycle of dependency and stunted development in the origin (Papademetriou and Martin 1991;Reichart 1981;Wiest 1984) especially if the funds are spent on consumption rather than income-or employment-generating productive activities, hence contributing to a way of life that cannot be sustained in the long run or through local means (Brown and Alhburg 1999;Grasmuck and Pessar 1991;Massey and Basem 1992;Mills 1999;Mines 1982;Rempel and Lobdell 1978;Russell 1992). But recent work showed that remittances -even used for consumption -generate strong 'multiplier' effects in the receiving economy (Durand et al 1996a;.…”

Migración y remesas: ¿están afectando la sustentabilidad de la agricultura y la soberanía alimentaria en Chiapas?

“…Este fenómeno se explicaba, en algunos casos, por la pérdida de mano de obra agrícola (Massey, Goldring y Durand, 1994), por la falta de inversión de las remesas en la agricultura (Mines y De Janvry, 1982) o por la inversión de las remesas en la ganadería extensiva (García et al, 2009;Schmook y Radel, 2009). En cambio, en las comunidades estudiadas se comprobó que la migración no provocaba abandono de la agricultura campesina ni cambios sustanciales en ella.…”