The impact of remittances on food insecurity: Evidence from Mexico
利用墨西哥农村家庭调查数据，研究发现国际和国内汇款均能显著降低粮食不安全，但不足以使家庭达到粮食安全，汇款只能作为政府责任的补充。
Literature has provided evidence that remittances have an impact on (economic) development and quality of life in developing countries. However, little is known about how remittances from different origins are used in relation to food insecurity. Using data from the CONEVAL Rural Households Surveys (ENCHOR) of 2013 and 2015, we estimate ordered probit regressions with instrumental variables in order to assess the potentially distinct impacts of international and internal remittances on food insecurity of households in rural Mexico. Our findings show that both kinds of remittances have significant effects on food insecurity. International remittances appear to reduce food insecurity more than internal remittances, although not enough to make remittance-receiving households food secure. The findings suggest that remittances are an important coping strategy but are not sufficient to eradicate the precarious food insecurity of poor households in rural Mexico. Therefore, remittances should be considered as a complementary step to reduce food insecurity levels, but should not replace the government’s responsibility for solving this problem.