05. Mexican and Latin American Migration Projects, Princeton University

• In Event: 265 - Research Funding Opportunities and Data Resources (part of the Research Support Forum)

Abstract

Founded in 1982, the Mexican Migration Project (MMP) has annually administered ethnosurveys to randomly sampled households in various communities in Mexico since 1987. In 1998, the Latin American Migration Project was born. For both projects, each community yields approximately 200 surveyed households in the home country, as well as 10 to 20 households of community members living in the U.S. Responses are converted to electronic format and compiled to form five unique data sets. PERS file contains socioeconomic information for each household member, including basic measures of domestic and international migration. MIG file contains detailed for each household head regarding detailed border-crossing, measures of migration experience of family of origin, extended family and friends, and the social and economic characteristics of last international trip. HOUSE file contains measures of household composition and amenities, as well as data about businesses, land, property, vehicles, and livestock. LIFE and SPOUSE files are detailed life histories of the household head and spouse; each record represents a person-year detailing information about labor force, family/household formation, and cumulative international experience. In addition, we offer the community file with measures of infrastructure, social resources, public services, labor force participation, and education. Currently, available to the public, the MMP contains 150 communities, while the LAMP include multiple communities surveyed in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Paraguay.

Author

• Karen A. Pren, Princeton University