La migración internacional y la productividad agrícola en el campo mexicano el caso de tres comunidades expulsoras

Abstract

In this paper we use simultaneous equation econometric techniques to estimate the effects of international migration on agricultural production in three native American communities with different emigration conditions. One of these communities has a long established international migration tradition (Tarímbaro, Michoacán), and the other two are of recent migration traditions (San Ángel Zurumucapio, Michoacán, and San Miguel del Valle, Oaxaca). From the three communities we obtained a total sample of 333 households. With these data we test the New Economics of Labor Migration (NELM) hypothesis that predicts that in the short run, migration negatively affects agricultural production and in the long run, remittances positively affects agricultural production. Our results confirm these NELM predictions (a reduction of 169 per cent in agricultural production by each emigrant, and a increase of 0.004 per cent in agricultural production by each peso of remittances). However, we identify a net reduction in agricultural productivity because the negative effect of emigration is larger than the positive effect of remittances on agricultural production.