Rural Development and Urban-Bound Migration in Mexico

This study addresses two questions: (1) can public policy as applied to rural regions be expected to affect the rural-to-urban migration flow in Mexico and, if so, what are the more effective instruments for implementing such a policy; (2) can such instruments be applied to alter the distribution of migrants as between Mexico City and other smaller cities. Programs to stimulate the modernization of agriculture can serve as instruments of urbanization policy in Mexico, but on any scale consistent with other development objectives their effect will be small in relation to total migration flows. Consequently, these migration effects are unlikely to weigh heavily in judging the desirability of programs for agricultural modernization. The primary criteria for such judgements likely will be the direct effects of the programs on such things as agricultural income and employment, food supply and prices, and balance of payments. The programs will be most effective in slowing the overall rate of rural-to-urban migration, their effect on the direction of flow being indirect and smaller. The direction of flow probably can be influenced more strongly by programs which directly change the relative rates of increase of job opportunities among cities

Economic geography · Economic growth · Economics · Environmental planning · Geography · Urbanization · Latin American rural development · Regional Development and Innovation

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