Competitiveness, Migration and Rural Development: A characterization of the Mexican case

This paper presents a comparative analysis of the agricultural sector in Mexico and the United States, aiming to link this competitiveness to the phenomenon of migration and its impact on rural development in Mexico. This is done through the study of productivity and competitiveness of U.S. and Mexican agricultural sector, taking up the theoretical postulates of Balassa, Vollrath and Hernandez Laos. Similarly analyzes the literature related to the link that has agriculture, migration and rural development in our country. Found that the lack of competitiveness of the Mexican agricultural sector is among the causes of low levels of productivity, which leads to a strong number of people migrating to other states of the republic and abroad, especially United States. It should be noted that migration contributes, then the welfare of households through remittances, and the preservation of the unity of agricultural production through investment in machinery and the transfer of knowledge production.