Neither by Land nor by Sea : The Rise of Electronic Remittances during COVID-19

Despite concerns that the COVID-19 economic collapse would torpedo international remittances, formal remittances to several developing countries ballooned early in the pandemic. This increase might, however, have reflected a shift from informal channels to formal ones rather than a change in actual flows. This paper employs Mexican data to explore this and finds that remittance channels did change. The rise in formal inflows was larger among municipalities that were previously more reliant on informal channels (for example, near a border crossing). Households there also experienced a disproportionate increase in bank accounts opened after lockdown measures. The paper also rules out hypotheses related to the US Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and. Economic Security Act and altruism.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dinarte-Diaz, Lelys, Jaume, David, Medina-Cortina, Eduardo, Winkler, Hernan
Format: Working Paper biblioteca
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2022-05
Subjects:ELECTRONIC REMITTANCE, INFORMAL REMITTANCE CHANNELS, BANK ACCOUNT SURGE IN MEXICO, COVID IMPACT ON REMITTANCES, COVID-19, PANDEMIC IMPACT ON REMITTANCES, FINANCIAL INCLUSION, INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION,
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099434205232231209/IDU0b9463f130c07f040160bb26018c9daadd997
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37470
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