Do Remittances to Latin America Depend on the U.S. Business Cycle?
December 1, 2007
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Summary
We use a range of methods and remittance data from 1990 to 2007 to assess the strength and significance of linkages between remittance flows to Latin America and the U.S. business cycle. All of the evidence suggests that remittance flows are relatively insensitive to fluctuations in the U.S. cycle, underlining their role as a stable source of external financing, in good times and bad. A number of factors, notwithstanding uncertainties related to official remittance data reliability, might explain this result, including remittance smoothing and flexible immigrant labor markets.
Subject: Business cycles, Economic and financial statistics, Income, Migrant labor, Remittances
Keywords: business cycle, WP
Pages:
32
Volume:
2007
DOI:
Issue:
273
Series:
Working Paper No. 2007/273
Stock No:
WPIEA2007273
ISBN:
9781451868364
ISSN:
1018-5941
