Working Paper: NBER ID: w28421
Authors: Heitor S. Pellegrina; Sebastian Sotelo
Abstract: Exploiting a large migration of farmers to the West of Brazil between 1950 and 2010, we study how migration shapes aggregate and regional comparative advantage. We document that farmers emigrating from regions with high employment in an activity are more likely to work in that activity and have higher income than other migrants doing so. We incorporate this heterogeneity into a quantitative model and find that, by reshaping comparative advantage, declines in migration costs contributed substantially to Brazil's rise as a leading commodity exporter. Opportunities to migrate, moreover, account for a substantial share of the gains from trade.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: F10; F16; Q17; R23
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| migration opportunities (J61) | gains from trade (F11) |
| origin of migrants (F22) | economic outcomes in destination regions (R11) |
| migration alters relative abundance of land and labor (J11) | allocation of labor and productivity in agriculture (J43) |
| declines in migration costs (R23) | population share in the west (J11) |
| migration costs (F22) | trade specialization (F19) |
| migration costs (F22) | trade specialization in agricultural goods (Q17) |