<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Traditional economic models predict rural to urban migration during the structural transformation of an economy. In middle-income countries, it is less clear which direction of migration to expect. In this article, the author shows that in Brazil as many people move out as into metropolitan cities and they mostly move to mid-sized towns. The author estimates the determinants of out-migrants’ destination choice accounting for differences in earnings, living costs, and amenities and tested whether the migrants gain economically by accepting lower wages but enjoying lower living costs. The findings suggest that in their destination choice, out-migrants aim to minimize costs of moving. On average, city-leavers realize higher real wages, including low-skilled migrants who would lose in nominal terms. The article thus provides new evidence on economic incentives to leave big cities in a middle-income country.</p>
</abstract>

Traditional economic models predict rural to urban migration during the structural transformation of an economy. In middle-income countries, it is less clear which direction of migration to expect. In this article, the author shows that in Brazil as many people move out as into metropolitan cities and they mostly move to mid-sized towns. The author estimates the determinants of out-migrants’ destination choice accounting for differences in earnings, living costs, and amenities and tested whether the migrants gain economically by accepting lower wages but enjoying lower living costs. The findings suggest that in their destination choice, out-migrants aim to minimize costs of moving. On average, city-leavers realize higher real wages, including low-skilled migrants who would lose in nominal terms. The article thus provides new evidence on economic incentives to leave big cities in a middle-income country.

Migrating out of mega-cities: Evidence from Brazil

IZA Journal of Development and Migration

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Migrating out of mega-cities: Evidence from Brazil"}

Traditional economic models predict rural to urban migration during the structural transformation of an economy. In middle-income countries, it is less clear...

Migrating out of mega-cities: Evidence from Brazil

Published Online: Mar 26, 2021

Page range: -

Accepted: May 17, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/izajodm-2021-0003

Keywords
internal migration, secondary towns, living costs, Brazil

© 2021 Eva-Maria Egger, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Migrating out of mega-cities: Evidence from Brazil

Published Online: Mar 26, 2021

Page range: -

Accepted: May 17, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/izajodm-2021-0003

Keywordsinternal migration, secondary towns, living costs, Brazil

© 2021 Eva-Maria Egger, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords
internal migration, secondary towns, living costs, Brazil