Publication

We analyze how migration prevalence and remittances shape income distribution using novel panel data that is nationally and regionally representative of rural Mexico. Employing a Gini decomposition and controlling for whole household migration (attrition), we find that migration prevalence has increased between 2002 and 2007 reversing the unequalizing effects of international remittances at the national level. We also analyze regional differences in the effects of remittances on inequality, and find that the regions that had the highest increase in international migration are also the regions where the equalizing change in the marginal effects of remittances was the highest.