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Human capital investment and long‐term poverty reduction in rural Mexico
Author(s) -
Winters Paul Conal,
Chiodi Vera
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of international development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.533
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1099-1328
pISSN - 0954-1748
DOI - 10.1002/jid.1664
Subject(s) - human capital , investment (military) , wage , economics , poverty , labour economics , rural poverty , poverty reduction , government (linguistics) , agriculture , economic interventionism , economic growth , development economics , business , geography , political science , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , politics , law
By focussing on human capital investment, the Mexican Oportunidade s program will influence the economic choices of the rural poor. To understand how beneficiaries may alter their behaviour as a result of this intervention, this paper uses administrative data to analyse the economic activities of the rural poor. Results indicate that investments in education are likely to shift recipients from agricultural wage employment towards non‐farm wage employment. The magnitude of this impact will be influenced by household assets and by the location of the household. The results suggest the need for policies that complement the government's focus on human capital investment. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.