International private transfers from immigrant workers to families and friends have surged in Latin America. These transfers, also known as remittances, grew from a mere US$5 billion in 1990 to US$74.3 billion in 2016, supplementing the income of millions of families in the region. Particularly, remittances can contribute to human development by lifting large populations out of extreme poverty and by enabling better housing, education, and health. However, corruption and weak institutional environments can severely reduce the effectiveness of remittances on the path of development. For instance, remittance recipient households could be discouraged to use these foreign funds to acquire assets due to the cumbersome and corrupt process to legalize property. Using a panel of 26 Latin American and the Caribbean countries over the period of 1985–2016, this study investigates the effects of remittances and corruption on five development indicators. We find that remittances do significantly affect human capital indicators, and more so among countries fighting corruption.

中文翻译：

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拉丁美洲的汇款、腐败和人类发展

在拉丁美洲，从移民工人到家人和朋友的国际私人转移激增。这些转移，也称为汇款，从 1990 年的 50 亿美元增长到 2016 年的 743 亿美元，补充了该地区数百万家庭的收入。特别是，汇款可以使大量人口摆脱极端贫困，并通过改善住房、教育和健康，为人类发展做出贡献。然而，腐败和薄弱的制度环境会严重降低汇款在发展道路上的有效性。例如，由于使财产合法化的繁琐和腐败程序，可能不鼓励汇款接收者使用这些外国资金购买资产。使用 1985-2016 年期间 26 个拉丁美洲和加勒比国家的小组，这项研究调查了汇款和腐败对五个发展指标的影响。我们发现汇款确实显着影响了人力资本指标，在打击腐败的国家中更是如此。