\Determinants of Remittances to Mexico From Mexican-Born Immigrants in Chicago

Using a 2005 multi-stage probabilistic sample of 510 Mexicanborn immigrants from Cook County, Illinois, which includes the City of Chicago, two logistic regression models are estimated to test the relevance of the New Economics of Labor Migration on the likelihood to remit money to Mexico. The findings indicate that life cycle variables such as being married or being a female immigrant decrease the likelihood to remit, while having dependent children in Mexico increases the probability of sending money to Mexico. Furthermore, being a U.S. citizen also lowers the likelihood of remitting to Mexico relative to other types of immigrants, but preference for Mexico's lifestyle over Chicago's increases the likelihood to remit. Other variables, such as the immigrant's educational achievement in Mexico or the United States, English proficiency, weekly income, work status, number of trips to Mexico in the past year, voting in Mexico or the United States, or being affiliated to a Protestant church, do not affect the likelihood to remit.