International migration and living conditions: exploring the Colombian case

Abstract

This paper explores the causal relationship between international migration and living conditions of Colombian households by means of a multidimensional indicator. We used OLS estimation and data for Colombia from the Health and Demography National Survey (ENDS in Spanish) for 2010. We found that living conditions were associated with geographical location and household composition. The descriptive analysis showed that for some states of Colombia there were statistically significant differences between living conditions for households with migrants and households with no migrants. However, the estimated OLS results do not support these findings at national level and differ from other findings in the literature.

Keywords

• Migración internacional
• calidad de vida
• condiciones de vida
• desarrollo económico
• Colombia.