Migration and Human Capital in Brazil during the 1990s
Nearly 40 percent of all Brazilians have migrated at one point and time, and in-migrants represent substantial portions of regional populations. Migration in Brazil has historically been a mechanism for adjustment to disequilibria. Poorer regions and those with fewer economic opportunities have traditionally sent migrants to more prosperous regions. As such, the southeast region, where economic conditions are most favorable, has historically received migrants from the northeast region. Migration should have benefited both regions. The southeast benefits by importing skilled and unskilled labor that makes local capital more productive. The northeast can benefit from upward pressures on wages and through remittances that migrant households return to their region of origin. The northeast of Brazil is a net sender of migrants to the southeast. In recent years a large number of people moved from the southeast to the northeast. Compared with northeast to southeast (NE-SE) migrants, southeast to northeast (SE-NE) migrants are less homogeneous regarding age, wage, and income. SE-NE migrants are on average poorer and less educated than the southeast average, while NE-SE migrants are financially better off and higher educated than the northeast average. The authors find that the predicted returns to migration are increasing with education for SE-NE migrants and decreasing for NE-SE migrants. They further observe that the returns to migration have been decreasing for NE-SE migrants and increasing for SE-NE migrants between 1995 and 1999. This finding helps explain migration dynamics in Brazil. While the predicted positive returns to migration for NE-SE migrants indicate that NE-SE migration follows in general the human capital approach to migration, the estimated lower returns to migration for SE-NE may indicate that nonmonetary factors also play a role in SE-NE migration.
| Summary: | Nearly 40 percent of all Brazilians have
migrated at one point and time, and in-migrants represent
substantial portions of regional populations. Migration in
Brazil has historically been a mechanism for adjustment to
disequilibria. Poorer regions and those with fewer economic
opportunities have traditionally sent migrants to more
prosperous regions. As such, the southeast region, where
economic conditions are most favorable, has historically
received migrants from the northeast region. Migration
should have benefited both regions. The southeast benefits
by importing skilled and unskilled labor that makes local
capital more productive. The northeast can benefit from
upward pressures on wages and through remittances that
migrant households return to their region of origin. The
northeast of Brazil is a net sender of migrants to the
southeast. In recent years a large number of people moved
from the southeast to the northeast. Compared with northeast
to southeast (NE-SE) migrants, southeast to northeast
(SE-NE) migrants are less homogeneous regarding age, wage,
and income. SE-NE migrants are on average poorer and less
educated than the southeast average, while NE-SE migrants
are financially better off and higher educated than the
northeast average. The authors find that the predicted
returns to migration are increasing with education for SE-NE
migrants and decreasing for NE-SE migrants. They further
observe that the returns to migration have been decreasing
for NE-SE migrants and increasing for SE-NE migrants between
1995 and 1999. This finding helps explain migration dynamics
in Brazil. While the predicted positive returns to migration
for NE-SE migrants indicate that NE-SE migration follows in
general the human capital approach to migration, the
estimated lower returns to migration for SE-NE may indicate
that nonmonetary factors also play a role in SE-NE migration. |
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