The impact of international migration and remittances on agricultural production patterns, labor relationships and entrepreneurship

The research presented in this book quantitatively analyzes the effects of international migration and remittances on agricultural production patterns, labor relationships and entrepreneurship in rural Ecuador. The results show that migrants‘ households spent more on fertilizers and are more likely to accumulate cattle than their non-migrants‘ counterparts. They also demonstrate that neither international migration nor remittances influence the likelihood to participate in reciprocal work agreements in contrast to the conclusions of most sociological studies. Instead, migrants‘ households are more likely to hire wage laborers than their equivalents without migrants. Regarding entrepreneurship, neither migration nor remittances have any effect on households‘ likelihood to own a small-scale business and on the number of non-household members working in a business. Instead, the number of household members working in a business is positively influenced by international migration. These findings contribute to the debate about the effects of international migration on rural regions and provide policy makers as well as rural development and migration practitioners with information and facts to be taken into account for the design of projects linking international migration with rural development.