Growth of Migrant Remittances from the United States to Mexico, 1990-2004

Migrant remittances from the United States to Mexico have grown at an impressive rate in recent years. Using a decomposition technique, I attribute the growth in remittances, for the 1990-2004 period and subperiods within it, to a migration effect, a remitting propensity effect and an average amount effect. Results show that while migration growth was the main force driving remittance growth for most of the 1990s, in the new century remittance growth cannot be simply attributed to migration growth. Mexican migrants are becoming more likely to remit and are remitting larger amounts. This reflects both a change in the composition of the Mexican population in the United States and new modes of immigrant incorporation, consistent with the assimilation and the transnational narratives. Macroeconomic oscillations play an important role in explaining remittance growth as well.