Abstract

MENDOZA COTA, Jorge Eduardo. Return migration, educational attainment and regional socioeconomic development in Mexico. Estud. soc [online]. 2013, vol.21, n.42, pp.55-85. ISSN 0188-4557.

This paper analyzes the impact of the return migration on regional economic activity, as well as its impact on regional social indicators in Mexico. A multivariate regression model was established to estimate the effect of the flow of the return migration on the social and economic development of Mexico. At national level, the average annual growth rate of the population with secondary education was moderate and low for those with technical studies. However, the states with higher return migration such as the states of Michoacán, Guanajuato and Zacatecas experienced a rapid growth of population with secondary and technical education. The econometric results suggest a positive effect of those return migrants with higher levels of education and remittances on regional economic and social development, as well as a negative effect of the return migration that exerts pressure on labor market formal and informal by increasing unemployment rates and the active economic population.

Keywords : return migration; economic development; education; remittances; social indicators.