The editors (senior economists at the Office of the Chief Economist for the Latin America and the Caribbean Region, World Bank) present ten papers that analyze cross-country panel data and household surveys for 11 Latin American countries in order to assess the economic effects of worker remittance flows for development. Separately, the collections papers discuss patterns and determinants of migration and remittances, remittances and poverty levels, remittances and household behavior, remittances and recipient countries' financial development, the impact of public transfers on remittances, remittances and real exchange rates, remittance flows and system security, and the role of complementary policies for remittances and growth. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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Workers' remittances have become a major source of financing for developing countries and are especially important in Latin America and the Caribbean, which is at the top of the ranking of remittance receiving regions in the world. While there has been a recent surge in analytical work on the topic, this book is motivated by the large heterogeneity in migration and remittance patterns across countries and regions, and by the fact that existing evidence for Latin America and the Caribbean is restricted to only a few countries, such as Mexico and El Salvador. Because the nature of the phenomenon varies across countries, its development impact and policy implications are also likely to differ in ways that are still largely unknown. This book helps fill the gap by exploring, in the specific context of Latin America and Caribbean countries, some of the main questions faced by policymakers when trying to respond to increasing remittances flows. The book relies on cross-country panel data and household surveys for 11 Latin American countries to explore the development impact of remittance flows along several dimensions: growth, poverty, inequality, schooling, health, labor supply, financial development, and real exchange rates.
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