The International Transmission of Local Economic Shocks Through Migrant Networks

The Great Recession profoundly disrupted local labor markets in the United States, an important destination for Mexican immigrants. If weakened labor demand contributed to increased return migration to Mexico and discouraged potential migrants from leaving, the recession could have also significantly affected the economic conditions in the Mexican regions with the strongest network ties to the hardest-hit U.S. destinations. Economists Brian Kovak and Brian Cadena will examine how losing access to a strong U.S. labor market affected local economic development outcomes in migrant-sending regions in Mexico. They will study the extent to which local and economic policy shocks on one side of the border were transmitted internationally, and the role that different migration networks played in this process.