Dimensión Espacial de las Remesas de Migrantes Internacionales

UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DEL ESTADO DE MORELOS
FACULTAD DE ARQUITECTURA

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MÉXICO
CENTRO REGIONAL DE INVESTIGACIONES MULTIDISCIPLINARIAS

DIMENSIÓN ESPACIAL DE LAS REMESAS DE MIGRANTES
INTERNACIONALES EN MÉXICO

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QUE PARA OBTENER EL GRADO DE

MAESTRO EN ESTUDIOS DE POBLACIÓN Y
DESARROLLO REGIONAL

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JORGE LUIS GÓNGORA GÓMEZ

Cuernavaca, Morelos, Noviembre de 2007.

UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DEL ESTADO DE MORELOS
FACULTAD DE ARQUITECTURA

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MÉXICO
CENTRO REGIONAL DE INVESTIGACIONES MULTIDISCIPLINARIAS

DIMENSIÓN ESPACIAL DE LAS REMESAS DE MIGRANTES
INTERNACIONALES EN MÉXICO
COMISIÓN DE TESIS

Dr. Fernando Lozano Ascencio
Director de Tesis

Dr.Marcos Valdivia López
Codirector de Tesis

Dr. Javier Delgadillo Macías
Lector

Dra. Liliana Rivera Sánchez
Asesora

Mtro. Guillermo Olivera Lozano
Lector

Cuernavaca, Morelos, Noviembre de 2007.
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Spatial Dimension of International Migrants’ Remittances in Mexico*
Jorge Luis Góngora Gómez
jlgongora@gmail.com
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The main aim of this research is to exploreremittances regional distribution in Mexico with
special emphasis on spatial aspects, and it is focused on the relation of these resources with the
economic growth at the places where these remittances are received.
This work approaches remittances regional distribution from a spatial perspective that
shows the effects of geographic location in multiple economic, social and demographic processes
byusing a spatial statistic technique, able to detect non-randomized spatial patterns. We consider
that the relationship between remittances and variables associated with development (economic
growth, inequality, marginality, human development, among others) is strongly conditioned by
effects of geographic scale and spatial interaction.
The main methodological procedure used in this work, is tocalculate the spatial
dependence among the values of clustered geographic units; it means that the values of a given
variable are influenced by the values showed at neighbor geographic units. The spatial
dependence is shown through the spatial autocorrelation analysis technique. This technique
shows that a variable values detected in contiguous geographic units, are a function of distancebetween them.
The exploratory spatial data analysis used in this work, shows evidence of spatial
autocorrelation among municipalities and states in Mexico. This means that remittances flows
are strongly conditioned by a regional component and are spatially clustered. In this work we
have detected spatial patterns articulated by municipalities and states with high and low
autocorrelationedremittance levels.
In first place, we analyze remittances flows at a state level in two moments, 1995 and
2006, then, we analyze remittances growth on the same period. We found that the resultant
spatial clusters are opposite in their values, in other words, states which show higher levels of
remittance incomes at the beginning and the end of the studied period, have lower levels in theirremittances growth.
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* Thesis presented to reach the Master’s degree in Population Studies and Regional Development, at The National
Autonomous University of México and the Autonomous University of the State of Morelos.

In other section, we explore the relation between remittances and GDP, in 1995 and in
2004, then, we explore this relation growth in the sameperiod. The spatial clusters detected are
similar to those on the remittances flow analysis, but the exploration of this values shows that
remittances flows growth is mostly negatively related to economic growth. One of the central
arguments of this work is that the impact of remittances in Mexico is essentially heterogeneous.
In other words, in some regions (also called groups of towns, states,...