new version published in: Journal of Economic Inequality, 2010, 8 (2), 187-200
We develop a model of the interdependencies between migration, remittances and inequality,
and investigate how migration and subsequent remittances affect inter-household inequality
in the origin communities. An important feature of our model is that we take into account the
impact of migration on the local (rural) labor market. Migration is shown to decrease wealth
inequality but may generate higher income inequality. Moreover, the short-run and long-run
impacts of migration on income inequality may also be of opposite signs, suggesting that the
dynamic relationship between migration and inequality may well be characterized by an
inverse U-shaped pattern. This is consistent with the findings of the empirical literature on
remittances and inequality, but offers a different interpretation, with no need to endogenize
migration costs through the role of migrant networks.
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