Self-Selection of Migrants from the Northern Triangle: a Tale of Two Countries, Mexico and the United States

Speaker: Carlo Alcaraz (Banco de México)

Abstract: In recent years, Mexico experimented a surge in inbound migration from Central America. This opens the opportunity for a new research agenda about migrants that settled in Mexico. We use data from the US and Mexican census and households surveys from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to analyze self-selection patterns of Northern Triangle Countries (NTCs) migrants in Mexico and in the United States. We find evidence of positive selection from Salvadoran and Honduran migrants and a strong negative selection of Guatemalan migrants to Mexico. For the United States, we find evidence of positive selection among NTCs migrants.

Recording here