The territory of Mexico is covered by forests and wildland up to about 73% of the total territory (World Bank, 2015 and CONAFOR, 2012). This corresponds to around 140 million hectares, 80% of which are owned by communities and ejidos. Starting from the '80s, Mexico has experienced one of the...

A household's decision to send migrants is based on information it has on the entry costs, expected returns, and risks of migration. Information and assistance flow from both family migrant networks and community migrant networks. Using data from a national survey of rural Mexican households, we...

This article explores the role of migrant networks in Mexican rural out-migration, focusing on how network composition influences rural-to-rural, rural-to-urban, and rural-to-international migration. Using data from rural Mexico, migration is considered in a multiple-choice context that allows...

This paper analyzes the characteristics of beneficiaries who drop out of the Mexican conditional cash transfer program Oportunidades to determine if dropping out of the program is a result of self-targeting by the non-poor or the exclusion of the target poor population. Using Oportunidades’...

In this paper, we examine how the design of cash transfer schemes influences household welfare outcomes with particular reference to the influence of transfers on conditioned outcomes, such as schooling, health and investment. We do this by examining two innovative cash transfer schemes...

Using administrative data from the urban Mexican Oportunidades program, this paper analyzes why poor households choose less education for their children, even when offered financial compensation for school attendance. Each school year, half of recipients forgo income for which they are eligible...

Public policy programs must often impose limits on who may be eligible for benefits. Despite research on the impact of exclusion in developed countries, there is little evidence on how people react to being excluded from benefits in developing societies. Utilizing repeated waves of data from an...

This paper examines the PROGRESA and PROCAMPO cash transfer programs in Mexico and evaluates their impact on household food security and nutrition. These two programs differ in their targeting and design: PROGRESA is aimed at women and program conditionality is linked to current consumption and...