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POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER
Migration and Human Capital
in Brazil during the 1990s
Norbert M. Fiess
Public Disclosure Authorized
Dorte Verner
Public Disclosure Authorized
3 093
The World Bank
Latin America and the Caribbean Region
Office of the Chief Economist
and
Economic Policy Sector Unit
July 2003
I
POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER 3093
Abstract
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. Poo. -r regions and those with fewer
economic opportunities have traditionally sent migrants
to more prosperous
As such, the southeast
A
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. Fiess and Verner 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 NESE 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 SENE migration.
This paper-a product of the Office of the Chief Economist and the Economic Policy Sector Unit, Latin America and the
Caribbean Region-is part of a larger effort in the region to understand migration patterns in Brazil. Copies of the paper
are available free from the World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433. Please contact Ruth Izquierdo, room
18-012, telephone 202-458-4161, fax 202-522-7528, email address
[email protected]. Policy Research Working
Papers are also posted on the Web at http://econ.worldbank.org. The authors may be contacted at
[email protected]
or
[email protected]. July 2003. (39 pages)
The Policy Research Working Paper Series dbsseminates iork
the findings of
in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about
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Produced by Partnerships, Capacity Building, and Outreach
Migration and Human Capital in Brazil
during the 1990s
Norbert M. Fiess
Dorte Verner
The World Bank
[email protected]
[email protected]
The authors would like to thank Patricio Arcola, Dorte Domeland, Indermit Gill, and John Redwood for
helpful comments and suggestions.
1. Introduction:
Brazil is a country of migrants, with as much as 40 percent of the 170 million people
having migrated at some point in their lives. Northeast (NE) Brazil has historically been
characterized as a source of migrant outflow. Most out-migrants from the Northeast
settled in the Southeast (SE), where the standard of living is significantly higher than the
Northeast measured for example by per-capita income or poverty rates. Per-capita GDP
in the Southeast exceeded that of the Northeast by nearly 300 percent (R$7,436 and
R$2,494, respectively in 1997). In 1999, the headcount poverty rate in the Northeast was
44.3 percent compared to 8.5 percent in Sao Paulo.
Migration in Brazil has historically been a mechanism for adjustment to
disequilibria. Nearly 40 percent of all Brazilians have migrated at one point and time,
and in-migrants represent substantial portions of regional populations. Poorer regions
and those with fewer economic opportunities have traditionally sent migrant to more
prosperous regions. As such, the Southeast, where economic conditions are most
favorable, has historically received migrants from the Northeast. Migration should have
benefited both regions. The SE benefits by importing skilled and unskilled labor that
makes local capital more productive. The NE can benefit from upward pressures on
wages and through remittances that migrant households return to their region of origin.
Migration has consequences for households, regions, and the nation as a whole.
At the individual level, migration can be viewed as a response to economic opportunity:
people migrate seeking higher returns to their individual attributes so we would expect
household well being to be associated with migration status. At the regional level,
migration flows have consequences for labor markets, public expenditure and investment,
and the overall prospects for economic development. As individual migration decisions
respond to economic opportunities, we would expect that aggregate migration would
reflect relative resource scarcities and act as a "market mechanism" to equalize relative
endowments over regions. Thus, aggregate flows of migration should produce downward
pressure on wages in receiving areas and upward pressure on sending areas. State
governments are also aware that rapid migration, if it is significantly large relative to
existing population bases, may place additional stress though its impact on congestion in
public services. At the national level, Brazil's economic development prospects can be
enhanced by efficient migration that responds to relative factor shortages. In fact, the
Brazilian government has used migration as a component of its national development
strategy; in the 1960s and 1970s, migration into the Amazon was used to relieve
population pressures in the Southeast and provide development resources for the national
economy.
Information about migration flows are important for public policy. Migration
pattems are influenced by development policy and public sector investments, especially
investments in human capital. In turn, the effectiveness of these policies in improving
well being depends, to some extent, on human responses such as migration decisions.
Policy can be better informed by good information on overall pattems of migration,
characteristics of migrant families, and the impacts of migration on local labor markets,
household well-being, and demand for public services. Therefore, it is of critical
1
importance to policy makers to understand the determinants of migration flows into and
out of the Northeast states as well as rural-urban migration within a state.
Why has migration failed to equalize real regional incomes? At least four
plausible explanations for this failure emerge. First, all the migration prospects have, in
fact, migrated and that differences in standard of living are due to differences in the
human capital bases of the remaining population. That is, because of low levels of
education, old age, or poor health status, the remaining population in regions such as the
Northeast would be poor no matter where it resided. The second explanation relates to
the first, the disparities in regional levels of well-being are due to differences in the
distribution of. occupations due to long-term investments in business capital. That is,
there may be no difference in remuneration for the same job across the regions, but one
region has more well-paying jobs because private industry has traditionally invested
there. Third, migration has run its course and regional differences in levels of living are
due to differences in costs of living. Finally, standards of living have not equalized due
to market failures and constraints (perhaps discrimination) faced by migrants into areas
such as the Southeast.
The main purpose of this paper is to shed light on how migration flows between
Northeast and Southeast Brazil have affected well-being in the Northeast. More
specifically, the direction of migration flows, the characteristics of -migrants and their
household, and some of the determinants of migration. The paper is organized in six
sections. Section 2 contains an overview of migration dynamics in Brazil. Section 3
provides information on socioeconomnic indicators for migrants and non-migrants in
receiving and sending areas. Section 4 assesses the human capital approach to migration.
Section 5 focuses on migration and schooling of children. Finally, section 6
concludes.Additionally, this paper has two appendices. Appendix A contains population
figures by state level for 1999. Appendix B contains information on the labeling of the
variables.
2. Migration patterns within Brazil
This section of the paper describes broad patterns of migration within Brazil using the
1999 PNAD data and the 2000 Census. A migrant, for the purposes of this study, is
defined.as a person who changed state of residence over a defined period of time. Interregional migration over the entire lifetime of the migrant and migration over the past ten
years are examined, sending and receiving regions are identified and flows between these
regions are documented. Since the largest flows of migration historically occurred
between the Northeast (NE) and Southeast (SE) regions, these inter-regional flows are
analyzed in more detail.
Data
The PNAD is an annual national household survey conducted and performed by IBGE,
the Brazilian Census Bureau, in the third quarter of each year. The data are derived from
interviews of approximately 100,000 households. The survey began at national level in
2
1971 and underwent major revision between 1990 and 1992. This revision has made it
difficult to obtain full compatibility of data between the PNAD before and after 1992;
and since we do compare data across decades, this is important to keep in mind. The
survey contains extensive information on personal characteristics, including information
on income, labor force participation, educational attainment, and school attendance.
Ferreira, Lanjouw, and Neri (1999) discuss shortfalls of the PNAD data and find that the
PNAD underestimates incomes, and most seriously so in rural areas. The PNAD also
does not allow us to analyze intra-state migration decisions, and its relatively small
sample size limits, in some cases, the ability to analyze determinants of migration. The
income data are adjusted by the local cost of living in accordance with the estimations of
Ferreira, Lanjouw, and Neri.1
2.1 Major Migration Routes within Brazil
The Northeast region of Brazil includes nine of Brazil's 23 states: Alagoas, Bahia, Ceara,
Maranhao, Pernambuco, Paraiba, Piauf, Rio Grande do Norte and Sergipe. It covers
about 1.5 million square kilometers, over 18 percent of Brazil's total area. In 1998, total
population of the Northeast was 47.7 million or about 28 percent of Brazil's total
population. In 1998, Northeast GDP accounted for about 13 .percent of Brazil's GDP and
per-capita GDP in Northeast was only 46 percent of the average GDP in Brazil. In 1999,
the poverty rate, measured by per-capita income and the indigent poverty line, in the
Northeast was about 44 percent compared to 23 percent elsewhere and still
disproportionately rural (see Fiess and Verner 2001). In contrast, the four states in the
Southeast (Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Mato Grosso, Espirito Santos) which occupy only
11 percent of land area, accounted for 43 percent of total population and around 60
percent of Brazilian GDP. Finally, the poverty rate in the state of Sao Paulo is 9 percent,
hence less than a fifth of the poverty rate in the Northeast.
The disparity between the Northeast and the Center-South of Brazil goes back
centuries. In the late 1800 the Northeast economy was heavily dependent on sugar but
started to lose ground to the Center-South, with the increased demand for coffee. Several
factors, including recurrent droughts, contributed to a rapidly growing socioeconomic gap
between the two regions. The relative decline of the Northeast ceased only in the 1960s
when the federal Government initiated broad-based measures to support development of
the region. These measures helped stabilize the Northeast economy and modernize the
industrial sector. The gap in per-capita incomes between the Northeast and the rest of
Brazil worsened in the 1970s and recovered in the 1980s. A deeper analysis reveals that
l A note of caution is in order. Since the PNAD is not stratified for the purpose of migration, an expansion
from sample values to total population figures might not be representative. The PNAD may be incorrectly
estimating migration. Comparing our figures with the Census data, we find that our methodology yields
higher migration estimates than the Census. The higher estimates of the PNAD are at least partly due to a
conceptual difference in the two survey instruments; the Census classifies a person who has lived 5 years
ago in a different state as a migrant. For example, a person who lived in 1991 in Piaui moved in 1993 to
Pernambuco and back then in 1995 back to Piaui will not be classified as a migrant. As we consider annual
migration data, our methodology captures migration at a higher frequency.
3
not only are the Nordestinos more than five times more likely to fall below the "foodonly" or indigent poverty line compared to Paulistasthey are also 25 percent more likely
to do so when education, skills, and other individual characteristics are taking into
account.
Poor states are catching up with rich states in Brazil. The Northeast is catching up
with the richer regions in Brazil and has on a per-capita GDP basis been growing faster
than Brazil as a whole over the last ten years.2 Figure 2.1 plots the ratio of per-capita
GDP of the Northeast region relative to that of Brazil during 1989-98. Since 1995 growth
in the Northeast has been faster than the Brazil average. Macroeconomic stabilization in
the aftermath of the inflation-beating Real Plan of 1994, trade liberalization at the
beginning of the 1990s, as well as a pronounced investment effort in the Northeast all had
a positive impact on growth in the Northeast.
Figure 2.1: Per-capita GDP in Northeast relative to Brazil (1989-98)
GDP pc NE/ GDP pc Brazil
0.48
0.47
0.46
0.45
x \
z
0.44
0.43
0.42
0.41
0.4
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
Source: Carrizosa, Fiess, and Vemer (2001) based on data from Contas Regionais do Brasil.
According to the PNAD 1999, 33.5 million Brazilians have a history of migration
between states during any time in their life (Table 2.1). The largest share of these
lifetime migrants came from the SE (35 percent) followed by the NE region (32 percent).
Migration between different states in the same region appears to be of particular
importance, and 28 percent of the migration in the NE is intra-regional migration, which
is the lowest in Brazil. For example, about one-half of the migration observed in the SE
occurred within the SE. The respective figures for the South, North, NE and Center
regions are 42 percent, 35 percent, 28 percent, and 31 percent respectively.
2
Estimating geometric growth rate from recently released GDP data from ContasRegionais do Brasil
(IBGE), 1985-1998, Carrizosa, Fiess, and Vemer (2001) find that during 1985 - 97 per-capita GDP in the
Northeast increased by 3.7 percent while per-capita GDP in Brazil increased by 3.0 percent.
4
Table 2.1: People Ever Migrating in Brazil, by Source and Destination
Migrating
TO:
North
(1)
(2)
(3)
Northeast
(1)
(2)
(3)
Southeast
(1)
(2)
(3)
South
(1)
(2)
(3)
Center
(1)
(2)
(3)
Migrating FROM:
North
NE
Southeast
South
Center
Foreign
Total
685,678
2%
34.9%
709,162
2.1%
6.6%
234,771
1%
2.0%
169,559
0.5%
3.5%
407,640
1%
12.7%
27,391
0.1%
2.8%
2,234,201
6.7%
6.7%
488,148
1%
24.8%
3,026,405
9.0%
28.0%
2,656,383
8%
22.8%
113,007
0.3%
2.3%
427,722
1%
13.3%
35,437
0.1%
3.7%
6,747,102
20.1%
20.1%
300,535
0.9%
15.3%
5,902,227
17.6%
54.7%
5,732,500 1,995,336 1,049,890 590,886 15,571,374
17.1%
6.0%
3.1%
1.8%
46.4%
46.5%
49.2%
40.7%
32.6%
61.4%
96,581
0.3%
4.9%
194,943
0.6%
1.8%
1,580,652 2,062,362
4.7%
6.2%
13.6%
42.1%
338,730 243,819
1.0%
0.7%
10.5%
25.3%
4,517,087
13.5%
13.5%
395,375
1.2%
20.1%
957,907
2.9%
8.9%
1,450,508
4.3%
12.4%
993,726
3.0%
30.9%
4,424,682
13.2%
13.2%
561,689
1.7%
11.5%
65,477
0.2%
6.8%
Total
(1)
1,966,317 10,790,644 11,654,814 4,901,953 3,217,708 963,010 33,494,446
(2)
5.9%
32.2%
34.8%
14.6%
9.6%
2.9%
100%
(3)
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
Note: (1) Total head of households that migrated, (2) percentage share of total migrants, (3)
percentage share of migrants from total migrants from a state. The PNAD does not provide
information about emigration, as the respondent would have to be present in Brazil.
Source: Author's own calculations based on PNAD 1999.
The major inter-regional migration route is from the NE to the SE (NE-SE).
About 18 percent of all Brazil's migrants and 55 percent of migrants from the NE have
taken this route. The second most important migration route is from the SE to the NE
(SE-NE); 8 percent of all migrants and 23 percent of migrants from the SE chose this
route. Other important migration routes are: South to SE, SE to South, Center to SE, and
SE to Center. The SE region has clearly been the most important sender and receiver of
migrants in Brazil. Migration from the North region has been least important in absolute
magnitude, but the North is also the least-populated region in Brazil.
In the last decade a slightly different migration pattern emerges (Table 2.2). A
total of 11.2 million people in Brazil migrated over the last ten years. The largest share of
recent migrants came from the SE (35 percent), followed by the NE (29 percent); this is
roughly the same pattern as found for lifetime migration (compare Tables 2.1 and 2.2).
The SE is still the main migrant-receiving area. Its positive value was about 0.6 million
individuals during 1996-2000, down 7 percent in 10 years (census 2000). NE has grown
5
in prominence. During 1995-2000, the NE received 0.5 million migrants (including
return-migrants), but 1.5 rnillion left the NE (up 8 percent in 10 years) and 71 percent
hereof moved into the SE region (census 2000).
Table 2.2: People Migrating in Past 10 Years, by Source and Destination
FROM:
North
NE
Southeast
South
Center Foreign
Total
TO:
North
(1)
301,600
237,137
82,424
36,682
156,781
12,748
827,372
(2)
2.7%
2.1%
0.7%
0.3%
1.4%
0.1%
7.4%
(3)
31.7%
7.2%
2.1%
2.8%
11.4%
3.8%
7.4%
Northeast
(1)
266,150 1,029,772 1,340,810
37,094
230,868
16,381
2,921,075
(2)
2.4%
9.2%
12.0%
0.3%
2.1%
0.1%
26.0%
(3)
27.9%
31.3%
34.1%
2.8%
16.9%
4.8%
26.1%
Southeast
(1)
124,193 1,622,377 1,588,090
426,396
397,765 137,476 4,296,297
(2)
1.1%
14.5%
14.2%
3.8%
3.5%
1.2%
38.3%
(3)
13.0%
49.4%
40.4%
32.0%
29.0%
40.5%
38.3%
South
(1)
52,198
58,736
505,191
683,846
183,571 142,427
1,625,969
(2)
0.5%
0.5%
4.5%
6.1%
1.6%
1.3%
14.5%
(3)
5.5%
1.8%
12.9%
51.3%
13.4%
42.0%
14.5%
Center
(1)
208,350
337,661
410,044
149,213
400,296
30,030
1,535,594
(2)
1.9%
3.0%
3.7%
1.3%
3.6%
0.3%
13.7%
(3)
21.9%
10.3%
10.4%
11.2%
29.2%
8.9%
13.7%
Total
(1)
952,491 3,285,683 3,926,559 1,333,231 1,369,281 339,062 11,206,307
(2)
8.5%
29.3%
35.0%
11.9%
12.2%
3.0%
(3)
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
Source: Author's own calculations based on PNAD 1999.
Note: (1) total migrants, (2) percentage share of total migrants, (3) percentage share of migrants from
total migrants of a state.
SE-NE migration increased over the last 10 years, while NE-SE migration has
declined. Over the past 10 years, a substantially higher percentage (34 percent compared
to 23 percent) of total migrants. from the SE located in the NE; these migrants also
became a larger proportion of total in-migrants into the NE (45 percent compared to 39
percent).
Table 2.3: Migration Net Flows, by Region and Reference Period
Region:
Ever Migrating
% of regional population % of total Brazilian
from net migration
population from net
migration
6
Demographics
% regional pop./total
pop. of Brazil
4.8
0.2
3.3
North
29.0
-8.7
-2.5
Northeast
Southeast
5.6
2.4
43.7
-0.2
15.3
South
-1.6
0.8
7.0
Center
10.7
Source: Author's own calculations based on PNAD 1999.
Note: Total migrants are all the people with a history of migration, i.e. people who have indicated in
the PNAD 1999 that they had migrated prior to 1990 (with unspecified date of migration) or post
1990 (at a specific point in time after 1990). A negative sign indicates a net outflow of migrants.
Migration has substantially increased the population in the SE and Center regions,
as net migration over the lifetime is responsible for 5.6 percent and 10.7 percent of the
regional population, respectively (Table 2.3). In contrast, the current NE population is
almost 9 percent lower than it would have been without migration, reflecting its historical
position as a net sender of migrants.
In the following section, we turn to the characteristics of migrants in order to
understand how they make their decisions to migrate, and how the decision affects their
well-being. This information will provide additional insights into the impacts of
migration on regional and household well-being.
3. Characteristics of migrants
The impacts of migration on the Northeast and Southeast regions and on migrant
households are of particular interest to policymakers. To understand these impacts, we
construct a profile of inter-regional migrants. In the profile, a person is classified as
having out-migrated if he/she lived in the past in the NE and currently lives in the SE; inmigration is classified correspondingly. A household is defined as a migrant household if
the household head migrated during the reference period.
This section is organized in two subsections. In the following subsection, we first
examine general characteristics of migrant household heads such as their age, gender,
educational attainment, and location choice. Second, we analyse differences between
migrants and non-migrants in receiving areas and differences between migrants from the
NE and SE and other residents of the respective areas. In the second section, we turn to
the economic consequences of migration decisions. We analyze first the relationship
between migration and household poverty status and differences in incomes between
migrant and non-migrant households and second, we examine participation in workforce,
sector of employment, and earnings/wages of migrants.
3.1. Education and Demographics
Age, Gender, and Race
7
Recently the view has emerged that a large part of migration to the Northeast is retummigration. If this is the case, we would expect that NE-SE migrants are significantly older
than SE-NE migrants. While NE-SE migrants tend to be older than SE-NE migrants, the
difference is not very pronounced (see Figures 3.1 and 3.2). The Southeast-to-Northeast
ever-migrated age distribution shows the typical bimodal behavior of most migration
studies, which is less pronounced for Northeast-to-Southeast migrants (Figure 3.2).
Average family size for Southeast-to-Northeast migrants is 3.6 compared to 3.4 for
migrants in the opposite direction.
Figure 3.1: Age distributions of Migrants over last 10 years - age at time of
migration (Household heads only)
o-
SE to NE migrants
-
-NE
to SE migrants
.04-
.02
-
0
0
20
40
60
80
Age'
Source: Author's own calculations based on PNAD 1999. Estimates based on Epanechnikov kernel density
estimates with a width of approximately 20.
The PNAD contains limited information on return-migration. We adopt the following
simplified definition for retumrn-migrants. A migrant is classified as returning if he/she
were bom in the same region as he/she is currently residing but has a history of living in a
different region. Interestingly, return migration is an issue for migration to the NE, but
less important for migration to the SE. Around 25 percent of all migrants from the SE to
the NE are retum-migrants, and the proportion of retum-migrants from the NE to the SE
is only 3 percent (Table 3.1).3
One caveat to keep in mind is that the actual number of returning migrants in Table 3.1 might be
understated since children of return-migrants who are born before returning home should effectively also be
classified as return-migrants and not migrants.
3
8
Figure 3.2: Age distribution of all migrants - age at time of migration
o
04
SE to NE migrants
-
NE to SE migrants
-
02
0
40
Age'
20
60
80
Source: Author's own calculations based on PNAD 1999. Estimates based on Epanechnikov kernel density
estimates with a width of approximately 20.
Table 3.1: Return migrants to Northeast and Southeast
Return migrants from Return migrants from
Southeast to Northeast Northeast to Southeast
(percent)
(percent)
Total reported return
migration:
25.1
2.6
3.6
in last 10 years:
21.7
in 1999:
22.3
8.7
in 1998:
20.7
2.9
in 1997:
20.5
2.1
in 1996:
15.0
2.4
1.1
22.5
in 1995:
in 1994:
19.8
6.4
in 1993:
22.6
1.8
in 1992:
28.4
5.0
in 1991:
31.5
6.7
in 1990:
24.7
5.1
Source: Author's own calculations based on PNAD 1999.
Note: Return migrants expressed as percentage share of total migrants to Northeast (column 1) and to
Southeast (column 2).
Gender
Males are clearly more likely to move than females (Table 3.3). Around 75 percent of
households with a history of migration from the NE to the SE are male headed. Migrants
from the SE to the NE are even more likely to be male (averaging about 78 percent male).
9
In all cases, the proportion of migrating males is higher than their proportion as heads of
households in both regions.
Race is also important (Table 3.3). White people are the predominant racial class
for NE-SE migrants. This contrasts SE-NE migration, which is led by non-whites, . In
recent years, however, the predominance of whites in NE-SE migration has fallen and
whites now represent less than half of the migrant stream. The number of NE mulattos
and blacks migrating to the SE is growing in recent years relative to other segments of the
migrant population. The racial distribution of migrant flows follows, to some extent, the
distribution of races in the receiving regions. The NE is predominantly non-white, while
whites are the most common racial group in the SE. Whites are also predominantly less
poor than non-whites at a regional level as well as national level (Fiess and Vemer,
2001).
Educational Attainment of Migrants Matters People in the Southeast tend to be
better educated than people in the Northeast. Average years of schooling for the total
population in the Southeast was 6.2 years in 1999 compared to 3.9 years in the Northeast
(Table 3.3).4 This pattern is weakly reinforced by migration patterns. People who
recently migrated from the Northeast to.the Southeast tend to be better educated than
people who move from the Southeast to the Northeast (see Table 6). NE-SE migrants
who moved in the last 5 years had an average of 5.4 years of schooling, compared to 4.5
years for SE-NE migrants. Furthermore, migrants.into the NE are far better-educated
than the general NE population, and migrants that arrive in the SE have education levels
that are lower than those of the SE population. While the difference in education
between migrants to the two regions might appear quite small, it should be viewed within
a regional context. One should therefore keep regional differences in education in mind
when assessing the impact of education on migration.
Urban-Rural Location About 95 percent of people migrating from the NE to the
SE end up in urban areas, while migration from the SE to the NE is less predominately
urban in its destination. About 30 percent of ever migrated SE-NE migrants end up in
rural areas, and more recently the trend toward SE-NE rural migration has increased. In
1991, 36 percent of SE-NE migrants settled in rural areas, but this figure increased in
1999 to 38 percent.5 Without more information on the immediate location decisions of
Fiess and Verner (2001) point out that in 1996 the literacy rate in the Northeast had not even reached the
level of literacy of the Southeast of 1970 and further, that in 1998 the average effective education of the
poor in Sao Paulo (5.1 years) nearly equaled the average effective education of the non-poor in Rio Grande
do Norte (5.2 years).
5 Note that the PNAD 1999 only provides information that a person that migrated, e.g., in 1991 from the
4
Southeast to the Northeast currently lives in a rural areas. We do not know if this person settled in 1991 in
a rural area; table 5 compares current residence of people who migrated in each year by year of migration.
Over time, if there is a general trend toward rural to urban migration within states, we would expect the
marginal share of inter-state migrants who locate in urban areas to exceed the average (which is indeed
what we observe).
10
recent migrants, it is not possible to conclude that there is an upward trend in the
propensity of recent migrants to locate in rural areas in the NE.
Sector of employment. The higher percentage of SE-NE migration to rural areas
of the NE is reflected in the respective employment sectors of migrants. The largest part
of SE-NE migrants appear to find employment in agriculture (36 percent), while for NESE migrants employment in agriculture is far less important (6 percent). NE-SE migrants
predominantly appear to work in the secondary and tertiary sectors (see below).
3.2. Poverty and Labor Force Participation
Poverty
SE-NE migrants are significantly more likely to be poor than NE-SE migrants; 13.4
percent (10.4 percent) of people who lived since 1994 (prior to 1994) in Northeast and
are now residing in the Southeast are poor, while 56.2 percent (42.5 percent) of people
who lived since 1994 (prior to 1994) in the Southeast and are currently living in the
Northeast are poor (Table 3.3). Recent SE-NE migrant families do, however, appear to
be more likely to be poor than the rest of the NE population. In contrast, NE-SE migrants
show about the same propensity to be poor as the rest of the SE population.
Evidence exists of a negative correlation between poverty and the time spent in a
new state. People who migrated more than. 10 years ago are less likely to be poor, than
people who migrated in the last 5 years in both regions (Table 3.4). It is difficult to
determine how much of this reduced propensity to be poor is due to an age or experience
effect (older household heads tend to be financially better off than younger household
heads) or a resettling effect (resettling after migration might cause financial hardship and
hence migrants are likely to experience a temporary drop in their living standard).
income and Earnings
The higher prevalence of poverty among recent migrants might be partly due to earnings
differentials. For example, several theoretical models of migration show that a typical
pattern for rural-urban migrants is to begin working in the informal sector, where rates of
remuneration tend to be lower, and gradually, through search and increased networking,
move into higher-paying formal sector jobs. Mean incomes for migrants do appear to be
increasing over time for migrants to both areas (Tables 3.3 and 3.4). Recent NE-SE (SENE) migrants eam R$291 (R$136), but over time the averages increase to R$304
(R$186). Annual trends for migrants from the NE to the SE, however, seem to signal a
slight shift in patterns. During the last 5 years, NE-SE migrants are, on average, earning
higher incomes than the 10-year average, which indicates that fortunes of recent migrants
are improving. This improvement does not seem to be reflected in better educational
attainment; new migrants have higher levels of education (Table 3.4).
11
Migrants into the NE from SE tend to earn lower incomes relative to the NE
population as a whole (R$136 versus R$179), and substantially lower incomes than the
average person who stayed in the SE. Migrants into the SE, while earning lower incomes
than the prevailing SE residents, are considerably better off than those who stayed in the
NE. These findings do not control for educational attainment, and confirmation of wage
premia from migration will be investigated in more detail below.
As expected, the bulk of the densities of 1999 wages and incomes from NE-SE
migrants is found to the right of those of SE-NE migrants (Figures 3.3 and 3.4). These
densities reflect, to some degree, the generally higher standards of living in the SE, but
the shapes of the distributions are also notable. The fact that the wage and income
distributions for SE-NE migrants are more dispersed (have a larger variance), gives
reason to believe that SE-NE migrants are more heterogeneous. This heterogeneity is
consistent with the evidence on age and educational attainment (section 3.1).
Figure 3.3: Log Wage Densities for NE and SE migrants in 1999
o
B
wages of NE to SE migrants
wages of all migrants
-
wages of SE to NE migrants
.8
.6
.4.
5
W age
0
10
Note: Distribution of log-transformed monthly wages for migrants over the last 10 years based on PNAD
1999. Population aged 18 and above. Estimates based on Epanechnikov kernel density estimates with a
width of approximately 20.
Source: Author's own calculations
12
Figure 3.4: Log Income Densities for NE and SE Migrants in 1999
o
-
incom e of NE to SE migrants
Income of all migrants
-
-
income of SE to NE migrants
A
.8
.2~2
1t0
5
0
Income
Note: Distribution of log-transformed monthly income for migrants over the last 10 years based on PNAD
1999. HouehAid heasi ynl. Pnnoilatinn aged I8 anri anve.Etinnate haceA nn Pnanierhniknv kernel
density estimates with a width of approximately 20.
Source: Author's own calculations.
LaborMarket Participation
Recent migrants into both areas are far more likely to be active in the labor market than
recent adIUlongIforl
V I",
IatCs of emIp 0oy,C,11t
L I aule 23.23)..
their regior,al countCrpaIs
term migrants into both regions are slightly lower than regional averages, rates of
participation (93 percent of recent N'r-SE and 85 percent of recent SE-INrE migrants are
active in the labor force) are higher for recent migrants. Long-termn NE-SE migrants are
about as active as the entire SE population in the labor market, but all migrants from the
SE-NE are much more likely to participate than the NE population. SE-NE migrants are
participating to a lesser extent than NE-SE mnigrants in the labor market. The percentage
of inactive migrants (not part of the active population) is close to 16 percent for SE-NE
migrants as compared to 7 percent for NE-SE migrants. Given that SE-NE migrants are
on average sliehtlv older. this could indicate that a certain percentage of SE-NE migrants
go to or return to the Northeast to retire.
Once migrants decide to participate in the labor force, there are only minimal
differen
-- r-te
--- of
.tnlnnn-nt
a-co
-4e
to
.ons
and
t,oon nrn.antc .-and non=
migrants. In the NE, both recent and long-term migrants are employed at slightly lower
rates than regional averages (tne employ-ment rate for migrants into the iNE- is about 92
percent, while the regional average is around 95 percent). In the SE, a similar but slightly
less pronounced pattern emerges.
Southeast to Northeast migrants appear to begin their employment in the infornal
sector and, over time, shift to the formal sector. Formal sector employment for recent
13
SE-NE migrants averages around 39 percent, compared to a NE regional average of 45
percent. Over time, however, these migrants apparently move to the formal sector, as the
propensity to work in the formal sector of people who migrated SE-NE any time in their
life rises to about 46 percent. Migrants from the NE to the SE appear to be much more
quickly incorporated into the formal sector, as recent NE-SE migrants work about 70
percent of the time in the formal sector. Migrants, whether recent or not, into the SE are
about as likely as the rest of the SE population to be employed in the formal sector and
much more likely than the population they left in the NE.
Recent migrants into the NE from the SE tend to be employed in agriculture,
services, and construction, with agricultural employment dominating. Longer-term
migrants tend to settle into agriculture, services, and commerce. The employment
patterns of SE-NE migrants do not differ much from those of all NE residents, but are
very different from residents of SE, whether migrants or not. In the SE, manufacturing,
construction, and services occupy much more prominent positions in the local economy
than in the NE.
In sum, there exist significant differences between migrants to the two regions.
SE-NE migrants tend to be more likely to be poor and are less educated than the
Southeast average. NE-SE migrants are financially better off and more highly educated
than the Northeast average. SE-NE migrants tend also to be less educated and worse off
economically than NE-SE migrants. Thus, there is evidence of a continuing brain drain
from the NE, whereby migration to the SE, on net, reduces levels of human capital in the
NE. Further, NE-SE migration is predominately into urban areas, while SE-NE migration
to rural areas is on the increase.
Moreover, SE-NE migrants are less homogeneous regarding age, wage and
income, which may indicate that economic returns seem not exclusively to influence the
migration decision; more will be said about this below. Finally, higher levels of education
and higher probability of formal employment amongst migrants to the Southeast provide
evidence that migration to the Southeast falls at least partly into the category of
contracted migration, i.e. migrants hold already a work contract prior to migration. The
relatively higher share of informal employment amongst recent migrants to the Northeast
seems on the other hand to indicate that a large part of Northeast migration is driven by
job-search migration, i.e. workers migrate without a work contract in the hope of finding
employment in the new region.
14
Table 3.3: Characteristics of migrants and non-migrants (HH heads only)
Southeast to Northeast NE residents SE residents
migrants
Total
Total
Since 1994
In percent of total
in percentage of total migrants
population
73.2
73.1
78.5
77.9
75.0
77.1
26.8
26.9
21.5
22.1
25.0
22.9
Northeast to Southeast
mlgrants
Personal
Data:
Male
Female
Race
White
Black
Mulatto
Location
Urban
Rural
Education:
level of
education
Employment:
48.3
6.4
45.0
54.4
5.7
39.5
33.17
2.4
63.6
36.4
3.7
59.7
30.7
6.9
62.2
64.8
7.6
26.8
95.0
5.0
96.1
3.9
63.8
36.2
69.6
30.4
66.8
33.2
89.7
10.3
5.47
4.87
4.50
In years
4.71
3.9
I
l
I
in percentage of total migrants
6.2
Active
Inactive
92.9
6.9
77.0
23.0
84.8
15.2
83.4
16.6
in percent of total
population
76.2
78.9
23.7
21.1
Employed
Unemployed
93.0
7.0
92.2
7.8
91.9
8.1
91.1
8.9
95.1
4.9
93.9
6.1
Formal
Informal
Sector
Agriculture
Manufa.
Construction
Other
industries
Commerce
Services
other services
transport &
communic.
Social
Public Admin.
Other
Total
70.7
29.3
73.1
26.9
35.7
64.3
46.0
54.0
45.4
54.6
69.4
30.6
6.1
13.0
19.7
1.2
4.5
16.2
15.0
1.4
35.9
7.7
14.8
1.1
33.1
7.7
9.9
1.1
37.3
7.5
8.6
1.4
13.1
15.5
10.2
1.8
11.8
30.7
3.2
5.8
13.8
29.5
3.2
7.3
10.0
13.2
1.7
5.9
12.8
14.4
2.5
5.6
12.4
13.8
2.2
4.4
13.2
20.0
4.9
6.7
3.5
2.8
2.3
100
4.9
3.0
1.3
100
3.9
4.1
1.9
100
6.0
5.0
2.0
100
6.0
4.7
i.6
7.1
5.3
2.3
-
Income:6
l
186.30
l
136.40
304.35
291.44
~~~~~~poverty headcount (percent)
1
i
42.5
56.2
10.4
13.4
PO
Source: Author's own calculations based on PNAD 1999.
Income
l
1.78.72
-T
44.3
i
389.50
lI
1.
All income figures are in reals and 1997 prices. P0 is the poverty head count based on a poverty line of
R$65.
6
15
Table 3.4: Annual Break-down of Migration Characteristics (HH heads only)
Southeast to Northeast
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
lastS years
last 10 years
more than 10 years
white non-whites male female
35.5
64.5 72.4
27.6
72.8 77.3
22.7
27.2
36.2
63.8 82.9
17.1
38.2
61.8 80.4
19.6
32.1
67.9 79.7
20.3
44.4
55.6 80.3
19.7
37.3
62.7 75.7
24.3
39.9
60.1 80.2
19.8
34.7
65.3 79.4
20.6
35.1
64.9 76.2
23.8
35.2
64.8 78.4
21.6
37.3
62.7 78.5
21.5
P0 urban rural
59.2 62.1 37.9
59.4 65.8 34.2
51.9 63.8 36.2
59
57
43
48.9 69.8 30.2
57.6 72.7 27.3
41.2 72.5 27.5
41.7
66
34
41.3 74.5 25.5
56.4 68.8 31.2
52.7 66.4 33.6
34.9 72.0 28.0
age* income study
34.32
92.45 4.63
33.9 114.78 4.31
33.0 167.11 4.80
31.0 120.63 4.28
32.69 212.11
4.5
34.62 218.09 4.41
35.52 161.68 5.43
35.05 153.19 4.53
32.92 135.85 4.85
137.30 4.50
146.42 4.61
215.45 4.78
Northeast to Southeast
white non-whites male female
19.1
1999
58.3
41.7 80.9
1998
59.8
40.2 67.9
32.1
24.4
1997
60.3
39.7 75.6
21.8
1996
33.9
66.1 78.2
28.5
1995
54.9
45.1 71.5
53.1
46.9
76
24
1994
43.0 77.2
22.8
'57.0
1993
16.3
1992
52.2
47.8 83.7
1991
52.2
47.8 77.7
22.3
22.6
last 5 years
47.5
52.5 77.4
51.2
48.8 76.8
23.2
last 10 years
55.1
44.9 74.6
25.4
more than 10 years
* Age
P0 urban rural age* income study
18.7 85.4 14.6 35.45 554.45 6.73
12.7 94.7 5.3 33.32 328.40 5.66
13.5 94.3 5.7 29.44 331.50 6.15
12.1 95.2 4.8 30.1 224.90 4.85
13.9 96.8
3.2 27.63 254.30 5.20
13.5 94.5 5.5 28.64 290.00 5.15
7.5
96
4 29.45 283.00 6.40
16.7
96
4 27.73 208.00 5.20
10.6 96.2
3.8 29.66 275.70 5.80
13.5 93.9 6.1
290.10 5.40
280.00 5.56
12.7 95.5 4.5
9.8 96.2
3.8
309.90 4.72
at year of migration. Source: Author's calculations based on PNAD 1999.
4. Economic Returns to Migration
Economic theory predicts that migration acts as an adjustment mechanism to differentials
in income and unemployment rates between regions. According to neoclassical growth
theory, the mobility of the workforce is driven by a search for higher remuneration. High
remuneration is given in areas where labor is relatively scarce. Furthermore, since
regions with higher capital/labor ratios tend to have higher productivity and hence a
higher per-capita income, one would expect workers to move to wealthier areas.
Aggregate studies using average income and unemployment data generally
confirm the predicted direction of migration (Vanderkamp 1976, Cancado 1997 for
Brazil 7 ) and have provided useful insight into the role of migration as an economic
adjustment mechanism. Behavior of individual migrants does not necessarily conform to
the predictions of aggregate theories. In particular, one short coming of aggregate studies
7 Can,ado (1997) uses a Solow-Swan neoclassical growth model and panel data and finds evidence that
during 1960 - 91, richer regions in Brazil attracted laborers from poorer areas.
16
is that they are unable to explain migration from high income/low unemployment regions
to regions that are on average less attractive. This pattem of migration is exactly what is
being observed between Northeast and Southeast Brazil. While the SE has higher levels
of income and general standards of living, in recent years the phenomenon of significant
SE-NE migration has been observed. The heterogeneity of the migrant population offers
an explanation of this phenomenon. Since both individual-specific characteristics and
individual responses to social and economic forces matter for the migration decision, it
becomes evident that relative returns to specific educational attainments in a particular
region, and not its average levels of incomes or wages, are the driving force behind
individual migration. Migrants from the SE to the NE, because of their heterogeneity,
might be filling niches in the labor market that are education- or skill-specific.
Differences in educational attainment, location of migrants, and employment
patterns documented above for migrants between the two regions suggest that individual
heterogeneity rather than aggregate regional conditions are driving migration decisions.
These differences further suggest that relative rates of return to educational investments
between the two regions should help explain observed migration pattems. Below, we
examine these rates of returns, using statistical and graphical techniques. First, we
examine relative regional returns to education, without controlling for other individual
attributes. Second, we note that because regional rates of return are jointly determined
with the decision to migrate, we control for the endogeneity of the migration decision
while estimating wages. We employ a standard version of a mover/stayer model and
estimate the relative rates of return to migration.
4.1 Wages and their Determinants
Wages and incomes are higher in the SE than in the NE, but relative wages between the
regions converge to nearly unity for increasing levels of education. Workers with high
levels of education receive similar wages in NE and SE Brazil (Figure 4.17). Loweducation workers receive a 12 to 20 percent wage premium in SE Brazil (relative to
NE), depending on the year of the survey, but the premium declines almost
monotonically with the level of education. These findings are consistent across years of
the PNAD survey used. Figure 4.1 does not, however account for the effects of age,
experience and other individual factors on relative return to education.
The relationship between educational attainment and relative return to education
between regions is investigated more thoroughly using two separate regressions; one
regression for the NE and are for the SE. In these, log-wages for all working adults are
regressed on potential experience (age-years of completed schooling - 6), years of
completed schooling and 14 dummy variables, which captures the effects of 1 tol5 years
of completed education. 8 The SE-to-NE ratio of the coefficients on the 14 education
dummy variables 9 are plotted in Figure 4.2.
8See Schady (2001) for a more detailed outline of the methodology.
9These coefficients were obtained from separate (NE, SE) regressions
17
based on PNADs 1992-1999 data.
Figure 4.1: Relative Wages - Southeast/Northeast
relative wages SEINE for different years of education
1.25
3
1.2
1.15
1.1~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-0
1.05
.
F __O___1998
+.
...
0.95
0
1
1992
2
1
_1993
-+
3
4
1999.
5
.. 1995
6
7
8
years of education
X
9
10
1996
11
-
12
-- 1997
x--
13
14
15
Note: The
estimates are from different PNADs (1992-99). Conditional (on location) wages are calculated as
wages for different years of schooling for the NE and SE.
Source: Author's calculations.
Figure 4.2: Relative Returns to Years of Schooling - Southeast/Northeast
returns to education SE/NE
1.6
1.4
1.2
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
.. 1992
__
1
2
-1998
3
1995
1993
-+1
4
1996
..
.1997
1999
5
6
7
8
9
Years of education
10
Source: Author's calculations based on data from PNADs 1992-99.
18
11
12
13
14
15
Relative return:to education, once experience is controlled for, appears to be fairly
equal across regions for workers with four to eleven years of education (primary II and
secondary). Relative wage premia for low-skilled workers vary dramatically across
regions depending on the survey year. Returns to education are higher in the NE for
more than 12 years of education for all survey years, with a relative premium of 10 to 20
percent. The findings show that returns to education, once experience is controlled for,
are not systematically higher in the SE. In fact, for higher-educated individuals, retums
in the NE tend to exceed those in the SE. These findings are consistent with a hypothesis
of relative shortage of high-skilled workers in the NE, but are hard to reconcile with
observed migration patterns. We still need to understand why NE-SE rnigrants have
consistently higher levels of education given the slightly higher returns to higher levels of
education in the NE.
4.2 A Mover/Stayer Model with Self-Selectivity
The relative wage differentials described above do not paint an accurate picture of returns
to migration. Studies have demonstrated that a comparison of the estimated return to
migration based on comparisons of wages for migrants versus non-migrants may be
biased due to self-selection. To address the issue of self-selection, we estimate a
mover/stayer model with self-selectivity. First, we lay out the mover/stayer model in
some detail. Second, we describe the parameter estimates together with some of their
implications. Finally, we discuss the policy significance of the results.
The model
The estimation procedure involves two stages, first the estimation of a reduced form
probit to determine the selection of the population into movers and stayers, where the
coefficient estimates for the movers can also be interpreted as determining the likelihood
of migrating. The second stage involves the estimation of earnings functions augmented
with inverse Mills ratios obtained from the probit selection regressions. For simplicity we
only outline the procedure for an individual facing the choice to migration from the NE to
the SE. The estimation procedure for SE to NE migration is reversed. A person is
classified as a migrant if he/she has moved within the last 5 years.
We are concerned with the choice an individual faces that is based the NE and
considers migrating to the SE. Let YNE and ysE be permanent income for an individual in
the NE and SE, respectively. Ignoring differences in amenities and non-monetary factors,
individual i will move from the NE to the SE if
YSE-YNE>Cj,
(1)
where C1 are the costs of moving.
Define
19
Ii
=
I
YvSE
(2)
I
-YNE(l+Ci)
where c -Ci/YNE
Taking the log of (2), yields
I,= In ysE - In yNE - In Ci
and the criterion for migrating becomes IiO0.
Since the actual earnings of a migrant in the case if he/she would have not migrated are
not observable, we follow Willis and Rosen (1979) and Robinson and Tomes (1982) and
obtain estimates for lnyNp and lnysE from Mincerian style earnings equations. For the
Northeast and the Southeast:
YNE= NEXNE + eNE
(3)
YSE= OSEXSE + eSE
(4)
where:
X ={ years of completed schooling, experience, sector of employment, female,
dummy for employed)
e = {general ability not in X, specific capital useful in NE or SE)
The actual costs of moving are unobserved, however, we observe some of the factors
affecting these costs (Z), with
(5)
c=8Z + ec.
where
Z = { family size, years of completed schooling, female, age, region of origin)
The observed income (y) is such that y= yNE if Ij=1 and y= Yse if Ii=O. That is, we only
observe income in the place where the individual decides to locate. This is the crux of
the problem we face in trying to measure returns to migration: we do not observe the
counterfactual (what the person would have earned had he/she not migrated).
To account for movers and stayers, the earnings functions (3) and (4) have to be
estimated on truncated samples. As those individuals for whom I>0 move, (4) is only
estimated for NE-SE migrants:
E(lnySE I Xi,Ii > 0) = XisE + E(esE i Ii > o)
20
(6)
Conversely, (3) is only estimated for stayers for whom I<O, i.e. the population of the
Northeast with no history of migration:
E(lnyNE IXi ,I < 0) = XIP8NE+
E(eNE
I Ii <°)
(7)
Substituting (3)-(5) into (2) yields the reduced form selection index:
Ii =Xi (fiSE-/NE)-ZZS+ (eSE-
eNE-
ec;
)
(8)
This is the selection equation: estimation of it provides information about the
determinants of migration.
Using this index and under an assumption of normality, (6) and (7) can be written as:
E(lnySE | Xi, I > °) = Xi/JsE+ aSE,
(9)
S6e
E(ln YNE | X{, I~ < °) = XiNE +-6 2~NENE,
(10)
Estimates of /SE and ,BNE are obtained by first estimating a probit regression of (8). The
probit estimates can then be used to compute the inverse Mills' ratios ASE, and ANE and
these can then be used in the regressions (9) and (10) to obtain consistent estimates of
I8sE and /NE (Heckman 1979).
Recovery of the parameters in (9) and (10) allow us to calculate the returns from
migration. We use the coefficient estimates from (9) and (10) to make linear predictions
of the mean wages for movers into the NE and what they would have earned had they
stayed in the Southeast. We report mean-wage predictions for different levels of
education.
4.3 Findings from the Mover/Stayer Model
In this section we restrict our sample to the population older than 19 years of age with a
positive wage. Table 4.1 provides summary statistics of the variables included in the
analysis. The mover/stayer model consists of a number of equations. We begin by
discussing the estimates of the determinants of migration (equation 8); these estimates
show what types of people are more likely to migrate and help clarify some of the
patterns we observed in the descriptive statistics.
21
Table 4.1: Summary Statistics of Variables in Mover/Stayer Models
Movers
to NE
Movers
to SE
Stayers
in NE
Stayers
in SE
Mean of variable:
32.88
3.73
30.89
37.35
37.17
Famsize
3.84
4.11
3.75
Expir
21.46
18.99
25.64
23.56
0.19
0.02
Age
Percentages shares:
Education:
No
education
0.13
0.09
Primary I
0.32
0.35
0.26
0.27
Primary I
0.18
0.15
0.14
0.15
Secondary
0.29
0.35
0.34
0.43
University
0.08
0.06
0.07
0.13
Gender:
Male
0.75
0.64
0.62
0.62
Female
Working
Class:
Formal
0.25
0.36
0.38
0.38
0.26
0.59
0.39
0.56
Self
Informal
0.43
0.31
0.15
0.26
0.34
0.27
0.22
0.22
Sector:
Agriculture
0.26
0.06
0.21
0.10
Industry
0.22
0.31
0.19
0.25
Services
Public
Sector
0.47
0.61
0.54
0.59
0.05
0.02
0.06
0.06
0.69
0.93
0.75
0.88
Location:
Urban
Rural
0.31
0.07
0.25
Source: Authors' own calculation based on PNAD 1999.
22
0.12
Table 4.2: Probability of migrating from Southeast to Northeast
Probit estimates
Log likelihood = -3042.2307
dF/dx Std. Err.
Age
female*
Famsize
priml*
prim2*
secu*
uni*
Minas Gerais*
Espirito Santo*
Rio*
-0.0006
-0.0062
-0.0007
-0.0095
-0.0085
-0.0229
-0.0133
-0.0281
-0.0101
-0.0106
0.0000
0.0010
0.0003
0.0012
0.0010
0.0018
0.0009
0.0013
0.0008
0.0009
z
-12.86
-6.23
-2.15
-7.04
-6.95
-14.86
-11.98
-20.21
-7.15
-11.49
Number of obs = 33369
LR chi2(10) =1038.63
Prob > chi2 = 0.0000
Pseudo R2 = 0.1458
P>z x-bar [95 percent C.I.]
0.00
0.00
0.03
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
37.07
0.38
3.75
0.27
0.15
0.42
0.13
0.37
0.05
0.24
-0.0007
-0.0081
-0.0013
-0.0118
-0.0104
-0.0264
-0.0150
-0.0306
-0.0117
-0.0123
-0.0005
-0.0043
-0.0001
-0.0071
-0.0067
-0.0194
-0.0115
-0.0255
-0.0086
-0.0089
obs. P 0.0223
pred. P 0.0106 (at x-bar)
(*) dF/dx is for discrete change of dummy variable from 0 to 1, z and P>Izl are the test of the underlying
coefficient being 0
Table 4.3: Probability of migrating from Northeast to Southeast
Probit estimates
Log likelihood = -2407.8167
dF/dx Std. Err.
Age
female*
Famsize
priml*
prim2*
secu*
Uni*
Maranhao*
Piaui*
Ceara*
Rio Grande N.*
Paraiba*
Pernambuco*
Alagoas*
Sergipe*
obs.P .0181508
pred. P .0137763
-0.0007
-0.0013
-0.0012
0.0092
0.0018
0.0014
0.0026
-0.0064
0.0010
-0.0101
-0.0076
0.0121
-0.0078
0.0039
-0.0070
0.0001
0.0014
0.0004
0.0025
0.0023
0.0019
0.0034
0.0020
0.0032
0.0013
0.0019
0.0039
0.0014
0.0035
0.0021
z
-11.04
-0.93
-3.16
4.15
0.84
0.75
0.80
-2.57
0.32
-6.02
-2.88
3.88
-4.86
1.22
-2.49
P>z x-bar
0.00
0.35
0.00
0.00
0.40
0.45
0.42
0.01
0.75
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.22
0.01
37.23
0.38
4.10
0.27
0.14
0.34
0.07
0.06
0.04
0.20
0.05
0.05
0.21
0.04
0.04
Number of obs = 28153
LR chi2(15) = 294.27
Prob > chi2 = 0.0000
Pseudo R2 = 0.0576
]
[95 percentC.I.
-0.0009
-0.0039
-0.0019
0.0043
-0.0026
-0.0024
-0.0041
-0.0102
-0.0052
-0.0127
-0.0115
0.0044
-0.0105
-0.0030
-0.0111
-0.0006
0.0014
-0.0004
0.0141
0.0063
0.0052
0.0093
-0.0025
0.0072
-0.0075
-0.0038
0.0198
-0.0051
0.0107
-0.0028
(at x-bar)
(*) dF/dx is for discrete change of dummy variable from 0 to 1,z and P>Izl are the test of the underlying
coefficient being 0.
23
Selection Probit- Likelihood of Migration
Larger families, older workers, and women are less likely to migrate in either direction
(Tables 4.2 and 4.3). The finding that single males are more likely to migrate is fairly
common among studies of migration. These findings hold independent of the direction of
migration.
The differences in the education coefficients over movers and stayers in the NE
and the SE reveal an interesting picture (Table 4.2). The negative and significant
coefficients for movers with primary I, primary II, secondary or university education
indicate that workers with no education are most likely to migrate from the SE to the NE.
The propensity to migrate from the SE to the NE decreases with level of attained
education. A worker with primary I, primary II, secondary or university education is 0.95
percent, 0.85 percent, 2.3 percent, and 1.3 percent, respectively, less likely to migrate to
the NE than a worker with no education.
The effect of education on migration into the SE is opposite that in the NE, but
statistically weaker. The positive coefficients for all education levels in the probit for
Northeast to Southeast migrants indicate that the propensity to migrate to the SE
increases with education. However, only the coefficient on primary I education is
statistically significant; workers with primary I education are statistically more likely to
migrate into the SE than workers with no education. As education level increases,
however, there is no significant difference in probability of migration compared to loweducated workers. Thus, while we earlier observed a pattern of migration that increased
divergence in levels of human capital, when we control for other factors such as age and
family size, we find no propensity for increased migration of well-educated workers from
the NE to the SE. The SE, on the other hand, tends to send less-educated workers to the
NE.
The regional dummies capture general characteristics specific to the region of
origin such as unemployment. Compared to workers in the state of Sao Paulo, we find
that workers in Rio de Janeiro, Espfrito Santo, or Minas Gerais are less likely to migrate
from the SE to the NE. For the Northeast, compared to Bahia, workers in Piaui, Parafba,
and Alagoas have a higher propensity to migrate to the SE, while workers in the other
Northeastern states, from fast growing states, are less likely to migrate. As SE
unemployment is highest in Sao Paulo (see Table 4.6) the high propensity to migrate
from Sao Paulo to the NE might indicate that workers move to the NE in search of
employment, providing further evidence that Northeast migration is in partly related to
job search (see section 3.3).
Wage Regressions
The coefficients form the log-wage regressions for movers and stayers for both migration
directions are consistent in sign and similar in magnitude. Age, education, gender, and
sector of employment affect wages earned in a typical fashion (Chiswick 1974), women
in the SE and younger and less experienced workers receive lower wages. For instance,
women in the SE receive wages between 33 percent and 36 percent below their male
24
counterparts, holding all other factors constant. In the NE, women, whether movers or
stayers, eam about 44 percent below the wages of their male counterparts. The premium
to experience holds over the entire range of plausible levels of the variable. That is, an
additional year of experience is rewarded with a higher wage.
Education is also rewarded with a wage premium. In all cases, holders of
secondary and university-level education receive a substantial wage premium over
uneducated workers, while rewards for primary education are substantially smaller. These
findings hold independently of being a mover or a stayer and of the direction of
migration, though fewer coefficients are significant in the mover equations. In particular,
there appears to be no statistically significant reward to primary education (over
uneducated workers) for movers either from the NE to the SE or from the SE to the NE.
The sign of the coefficient on the other independent variables are similar across
the different models and consistent with expectation. Workers in the informal sector and
self-employed workers earn less, while those in the industry, services, and public sectors
receive higher wages. Interestingly, the coefficients for the movers into the NE (SE) for
these variables are larger than those for the stayers in the NE (SE), which indicates that
migration might be an efficient sorting mechanism. The movers receive a wage premium
(compared to existing residents) that compensates them for the cost of their joumey.
The coefficients on A(the inverse Mills ratio) provide information on the
existence of selection bias in the mover or stayer category. For instance, they provide an
indication of whether a stayer in the Southeast has eamings (in the SE) above the average
taken over both movers and stayers (in the SE), and if a SE-NE migrant eams more in the
Northeast than he/she would have if he/she remained in the Southeast. As Ais negative (0.023) only for movers from the Northeast, this implies a positive selection of SE
migrants into the movers' group. That is, people who actually moved out of the
Northeast eamed more in the Southeast than the stayers in the Northeast would have had
they also moved (Table 4.5).
A positive and borderline significant A(at the 5 percent level) with a value of
0.225 for movers to the Northeast indicates that people who actually moved out of the SE
earned more in the NE than the stayers in the SE would have had they also moved (Table
4.4). This finding is confirmed by estimates of returns to migration in the following
section and indicates that migration to the Northeast can in part be explained by the
human capital model of migration. However, A is only strongly significant for stayers in
the SE and the sign of 2 in the other equations should therefore be only taken as being
indicative. Thus, there appears to be only limited significance of selection; in the case of
movers to the SE and stayers in the NE, selectivity is not a statistically significant
problem.
25
Table 4.4: Mover/Stayer Model: Wages Stayers in the SE and Movers from SE to
NE
Stayers in Southeast
Movers to Northeast
Number of obs = 743
F( 14, 728)= 45.81
Prob > F
= 0.0000
= 0.4903
R-squared
Root MSE
= .78864
Number of obs = 32626
F( 14, 32611) = 1927.19
Prob > F
= 0.0000
= 0.4632
R-squared
Root MSE
= .68783
Wage Regressions
stayer
Mover
Coef.
P>z
[95 %Conf. Interval]
Coef.
P>z
[95 %Conf.
Interval]
Expir
0.0206
0.06
-0.0008
0.0420
0.0458
0.00
0.0436
0.0480
expir2
-0.0002
0.28
-0.0006
0.0002
-0.0006
0.00
-0.0006
-0.0005
priml
-0.0634
0.50
-0.2476
0.1208
0.0913
0.00
0.0613
0.1213
prim2
-0.1729
0.08
-0.3641
0.0184
0.0807
0.00
0.0520
0.1094
Secu
0.3805
0.01
0.1132
0.6478
0.7866
0.00
0.7552
0.8179
Uni
1.8368
0.00
1.4708
2.2029
1.7947
0.00
1.7558
1.8336
Female
-0.5544
0.00
-0.7004
-0.4083
-0.4497
0.00
-0.4668
-0.4325
Self
-0.5506
0.00
-0.7020
-0.3992
-0.2138
0.00
-0.2363
-0.1914
Informal
-0.5083.
0.00
-0.6504
-0.3663
-0.4617
0.00
-0.4801
-0.4434
Ind
0.4466
0.00
0.2581
0.6352
0.0925
0.00
0.0622
0.1227
Serv
0.4919
0.00
0.3044
0.6794
0.0480
0.00
0.0185
0.0775
Public
0.5337
0.00
0.2188
0.8487
0.1292
0.00
0.0876
0.1708
Rural
-0.2285
0.00
-0.3761
-0.0809
-0.2726
0.00
-0.2997
-0.2455
Const.
4.3683
0.00
3.9143
4.8224
4.8626
0.00
4.8107
4.9144
A:
0.2248
0.04
0.0098
0.4398
-2.5891
0.00
-2.7400
-2.4381
Source: Author's own calculations based on PNAD 1999.
26
Table 4.5: Mover/Stayer Model: Wages, Stayers in NE and Movers from NE to SE
Mover to Southeast
Stayers in Northeast
Number of obs = 511
F( 14, 496) = 17.84
Prob>F
=0.0000
R-squared = 0.3978
Root MSE
= .5985
Number of obs = 27642
F( 14,27627) 1413.36
Prob > F
= 0.0000
R-squared = 0.4461
Root MSE
= .72898
Wage Regressions
stayer
Mover
Coef.
P>z
[95 %Conf. Interval]
Coef.
P>z
[95 %Conf. Interval]
Expir
0.0111
0.32
-0.0110
0.0333
0.0376
0.00
0.0350
0.0403
2
expir
0.0000
0.89
-0.0004
0.0005
-0.0005
0.00
-0.0005
-0.0005
priml
-0.1135
0.14
-0.2624
0.0354
0.0959
0.00
0.0700
0.1219
prim2
0.0704
0.36
-0.0817
0.2225
0.0878
0.00
0.0592
0.1164
0.6360
0.6950
Secu
0.2523
0.01
0.0684
0.00
1.4701
0.00
1.1211
0.4361
1.8191
0.6655
Uni
1.7877
0.00
1.7399
1.8354
Female
-0.3927
0.00
-0.5129
-0.2725
-0.5613
0.00
-0.5812
-0.5413
Self
-0.1905
0.06
-0.3885
0.0075
-0.4623
0.00
-0.4865
-0.4381
Informal
-0.3177
0.00
-0.4346
-0.2008
-0.5001
0.00
-0.5206
-0.4795
Ind
0.1848
0.16
-0.0759
0.4455
0.2374
0.00
0.2058
0.2690
Serv
0.1076
0.42
-0.1516
0.3669
0.2792
0.00
0.2484
0.3101
Public
0.5799
0.03
0.0589
1.1008
0.3837
0.00
0.3370
0.4305
Rural
-0.4018
0.00
-0.6572
-0.1463
-0.1198
0.00
-0.1447
-0.0949
Const.
5.6581
0.00
4.9256
6.3906
4.5566
0.00
4.4918
4.6215
A:
-0.0233
0.88
-0.3353
0.2886
0.2881
0.18
-0.1304
0.7067
4.4. Returns to Migration
As an estimate of the returns to migration, we use the coefficient estimates from the wage
regression in Tables 4.4 and 4.5 to form linear predictions by region of the mean wages
for actual movers and for movers had they stayed. The selectivity-corrected differences
in mean wages for different levels of education are graphed in Figures 4.3 and 4.4. ' 0As a
test of the robustness and stability of our findings over time, we repeat this exercise for
information based on the PNAD 1995. This enables us to contrast the returns to
migration for migrants from 1990 to 1995 (based on the PNAD 1995) with migrants from
1995 to 1999 (based on the PNAD 1999).
'° We also predicted mean wages from simple OLS regressions without correcting for self-selectivity. The
findings did not differ from the selectivity-corrected estimates.
27
Figure 4.3
Returns to nigration: 1999 versus 1995
(Northeast to Southeast Migration)
0.9
0.8
0
1M0.7
M
0.5
0.4
no education
priml
prirn2
education
secondary
university
Note: Solid lines mark estimations based on PNAD 1999, dotted lines mark estimates from the PNAD 1995
Returns to migration are expressed as the difference in predicted log-mean wages between movers and movers had
they stayed. Source: Author's calculations based on PNAD 1999 and 1995.
Figure 4.4
Returns to migration: 1999 versus 1995
(Southeast to Northeast Migration)
no education
prirri
education
prirrQ
secondary
university
0.2
0.0
-0.2 0
~ 0.4
-
E -0.6
2
-0.8-10
-1.2
-1.4
Note: Solid lines mark estimations based on PNAD 1999, dotted lines mark esfimates from the PNAD 1995
Returns to migration are expressed as the difference in predicted log-mean wages between movers and movers had
they stayed.
Source: Author's calculations based on PNAD 1999 and 1995.
28
A common feature in returns to migration based on wages is that independent of
using data from 1995 or 1999 the return to migration are increasing with education for
SE-NE migrants and decreasing for NE-SE migrants. Retums to migration for SE-NE
migrants with at least secondary education have increased between 1995 and 1999.
Returns to migration for NE-SE migrants slightly decreased for migrants with primary I
and above education during 1995-99.
In sum, the findings in this section provide some evidence that returns to
migration have been decreasing for NE-SE migrants and increasing for SE-NE migrants
during 1995-99. These findings are consistent with the increased migration to the
Northeast and the decreased migration to the Southeast documented earlier. The predicted
positive returns to migration for NE-SE migrants indicate that people migrating from the
NE to the SE in search of higher remuneration. The estimated lower and generally
negative returns to migration for SE-NE migrants indicates that it is likely that nonmonetary factors play a role in SE-NE migration such as lower levels of violence and
warmer climate. The negative returns to migration for SE-NE migrants may also indicate
that costs of living in the Southeast are substantially higher than in the Northeast and that
the spatial deflators suggested by Ferreira, Lanjouw, and Neri (1999) might not be
sufficient to fully account for regional differences in the cost of living.'
As already mentioned, we only observe income in the place where the individual
decides to locate. The crux of the problem of measuring returns to migration is that we
only observe income in the place where the individual is now locating, and we do not
observe the counterfactual (what the person would have eamed had he/she not migrated).
If a SE-NE migrant were unemployed prior to migration, but found employment in the
NE, negative returns to NE migration might be consistent with an economic explanation
of migration. Unemployment in the SE in 1999 was for the whole 3.2-percentage-points
higher than in the NE (Table 4.6). Differences between states are even more pronounced.
Rio Grande do Norte and Piaui have an unemployment rate of 9.2 percent and 3.4 percent
respectively, compared to 15.8 percent in metropolitan Sao Paulo. Given that 75.1
percent of all migrants from the SE originated in the State of Sao Paulo, high
unemployment might therefore well be responsible for a lazy share of the migration.12
" This is further highlighted by the fact that if we repeat our analysis without spatial deflation, the findings
do not change significantly.
12 A research question that emerges is why labor markets within the SE do not exhibit the flexibility to
absorb the unemployed and leave migration as a viable solution. An attempt to address the impact of
unemployment on the returns to migration would be to weigh returns of migration with respective
probabilities for unemployment within a state. Further research is needed here.
29
Table 4.6: Unemployment rates by region and state
Northeast
Maranhao
Piaui
Ceara
RM Fortaleza
Rio Grande do Norte
1997
6.7
3.5
3.8
6.1
10.3
8.9
1998
7.1
3.4
4.9
6.2
11.0
7.6
1999
8.0
4-3
3.4
6.3
12.2
9.2
5.6
8.5
5.6
7.8
8.1
14.7
11.4
10.2
8.1
17.2
10.8
8.2
12.7
6.7
10.8
11.1
12.4
14.9
9.0
10.1
14.1
13.7
8.9
9.1
19.2
11.2
8.7
14.3
8.2
11.4
11.5
12.6
15.8
9.6
Paraiba
Pemambuco
RM Recife
Alagoas
Sergipe
Bahia
RM Salvador
Southeast
Minas Gerais
RM Belo Horizonte
Espirito Santo
Rio de Janeiro
RM Rio de Janeiro
Sao Paulo
RM Sao Paulo
Brazil
13.2
7.5
6.0
7.7
16.2
9.0
6.4
9.7
6.5
9.3
9.6
10.3
12.6
7.8
Source: IiBGE
5. Migration and Schooling of Children
We have seen evidence that migration tends to make the migrants themselves better off.
Recent migrants to both the NE and then SE are not as generally well off as longer-term
migrants and migrants, particularly in the NE, seem to improve their employment
prospects over time. A remaining question is the impacts of migration on use of public
infrastructure, in particular schooling. While the decision to migrate is primarily taken by
the household head, all family members incur potential costs. Non-monetary resettling
costs might be particularly high for children, as they have to adjust to different schools
and curricula. The difference in school attendance probabilities between children of
migrants and non-migrants in both regions is not very pronounced and participation rates
for all children are close to 90 percent (Table 5.1). However, school attendance for
children from migrants to the SE is about 5-percentage-points lower than for the average
school-aged child in the SE, suggesting that children of recent migrants may be
educationally disadvantaged.
Differences in school performance, as measured by age-appropriate grade
enrollment, for migrant versus non-migrant children are more evident. Children of
30
migrants from the NE to the SE do worse than the average child in the receiving area,
while children of migrants from the SE to the NE do better than the NE average. Only 60
percent of children who migrated within the last 5 years to the SE are in the school grade
corresponding to their age, compared to the average of 77 percent for children in the SE.
The corresponding figures for migrants to the NE are 70 percent for migrants compared
to 59 percent for the non-migrant population. Girls have better school attendance and
school performance than boys; a finding independent of the region as well of the
migration status.
5.1 Determinants of School Participation and Advancement
The above mentioned summary statistics indicate that the participation of children in
school and their ability to advance may be affected by the migration decision. To address
this issue, we perform two regressions. The first examines whether children of migrants
are less likely to attend school. The second identifies if children of migrants have
difficulties in catching up in or adjusting to school by examining the degree to which
migrant children are in the proper grade given their age. Both regressions are run
separately for the NE and the SE to account for regional effects, School officials in areas
receiving large numbers of migrants may use such information to design interventions to
assist children of recent migrants.
The two equations are estimated using the probit regression technique. The
school attendance equation has a 0-1 variable for school attendance as the dependent
variable, it takes the value 1 if a school child attends the appropriate grade according to
his or her age and the value 0 if he or she is behind grade. The independent variables in
each equation include household size; its squared term; gender; incidence of poverty
(PO); a household head with primary I, primary I1, secondary or university education; a
dummy for a female-headed household; and a dummy variable to capture the impact of
migration within the last 5 years. The sample for the school attendance equations is
limited to children age 7-18. The school performance equation sample only includes
children attending school.
5.2 Findings
The coefficient on the variables in the model of school attendance all tend to be highly
significant, but relatively small in size (Tables 5.2 and 5.3). They are broadly consistent
for both regions. Independent of the region of residence, girls are more likely to attend
school than boys. In the NE and the SE, girls are 0.18 percent and 0.13 percent
respectively more likely to attend schools than their male peers. Children being brought
up in poor households are significantly less likely to attend school than their non-poor
peers, indicating that economic barriers to educational attainment may exist in both
regions. Children from larger households are more likely to attend school, controlling for
other factors. This result might indicate a peer effect within families. The education of
the household head is a very important determinant of the likelihood of attending school;
it is statistically significantly and positively correlated with school attendance for both
regions.
31
Regional differences are present with regard to the effect of the gender of the
household head on school attendance. Children from female-headed households in the
NE are more likely to attend school than children in male-headed households, while their
peers in the SE are less likely to attend school compared to children in male-headed
households.
Migration is negatively and significantly correlated with school attendance in the
SE and an insignificant determinant of attendance in the NE. That is, migration is an
important factor in explaining school attendance in the SE while not in the Northeast
even after taking the educational status of parents into account.
Table 5.1: School Attendance and On-Age Performance for Migrant and An
Children, Northeast and Southeast Regions.
Migrants to SE Southeast
Migrants to NE Northeast
School Attendance (percent attending):
Total
Male
Female
86.5 (85.7)
84.9 (84.6)
88.1 (86.8)
Total
Male
Female
60.9 (70.1)
56.7 (71.0)
64.8 (69.2)
83.6 (81.3)
83.5 (82.8)
83.7 (79.8)
87.2
86.7
87.8
89.2
88.8
89.5
School Performance (percent on-age):
58.5
54.5
62.5
64.5 (60.3)
61.5 (59.1)
67.4 (61.4)
77.2
74.3
80.2
Note: Numbers in brackets represent the respective figure for migration within the last 5 years Nonbracketed numbers are for ever-migrated. Source: Author's own calculations based on PNAD 1999.
Table 5.2: Marginal Effects for School Attendance in Northeast of Brazil
Number of obs = 29154
LR chi2(9) =1091.06
Probit estimates
Prob > chi2 = 0.0000
Log likelihood
female*
Famsize
faM2
P0*
primlH*
prim2H*
secH*
femHH*
m5Ynese*
=
Pseudo R2
-10606.462
dF/dx
Std.Error
Z
P>|zI
x-bar
0.018
0.088
-0.006
-0.057
0.075
0.047
0.037
0.020
-0.013
0.004
0.004
0.000
0.004
0.004
0.005
0.006
0.004
0.016
4.680
23.990
-21.400
-13.740
17.270
8.800
5.080
4.440
0.840
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.403
0.496
5.260
31.840
0.580
0.275
0.149
0.074
0.238
0.015
= 0.0489
[95 %
C.I.]
0.010
0.081
-0.006
-0.065
0.068
0.038
0.024
0.012
-0.045
pred. P: 0.883237 (at x bar)
obs. P: 0.872024
(*) dF/dx is for discrete change of dummy variable from 0 to I
z and P>|z| are the test of the underlying coefficient being 0
Note: Variable uniH was dropped during probit estimation.
Source: Author's own calculations based on PNAD 1999.
32
0.025
0.095
-0.005
-0.050
0.083
0.056
0.049
0.029
0.019
Table 5.3: Marginal Effects for School Attendance in Southeast of Brazil
Probit estimates
Number of obs = 25763
LR chi2(9) = 874.88
Prob > chi2 = 0.0000
Log likelihood = -8489.9813
dF/dx
Std.Error
female*
0.013
0.004
Famsize
0.056
0.004
faM2
-0.004
0.000
PO*
-0.047
0.005
primlH*
0.085
0.004
prim2H*
0.028
0.005
secH*
-0.002
0.006
femHH*
-0.025
0.005
M5Ysene*
-0.080
0.020
Z
3.570
14.130
-13.870
-9.380
18.640
5.770
-0.440
-5.210
-4.840
P>Izl
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.662
0.000
0.000
Pseudo R2 = 0.0490
x-bar [95 %
C.I.]
0.490
0.006
0.021
4.738
0.049
0.064
25.125
-0.005
-0.004
0.218
-0.057
-0.036
0.336
0.077
0.093
0.241
0.019
0.037
0.161
-0.014
0.009
0.220
-0.035
-0.015
0.015
-0.041
-0.119
obs. P: 0.889997
pred. P: 0.900897 (at x bar)
(*) dF/dx is for discrete change of dummy variable from 0 to 1
z and P>Izl are the test of the underlying coefficient being 0
Note: Variable uniH was dropped during probit estimation.
Source: Author's own calculations based on PNAD 1999.
The findings with respect to school performance (i.e. is the child in an appropriate
grade given his or her age?) (Tables 5.4 and 5.6) are similar to those for attendance. Girls
in both regions are less likely to repeat than their male peers. Younger students and
students from poor households are more likely to repeat in both regions. The education
of the household head is an important determinant of the school performance of a child.
Children whose parents have secondary or higher education are 39 percent (24 percent)
more likely to be in the appropriate grade given their age in the NE (SE) compared to
children whose parents have no education, which is the reference group. There is a
positive correlation between school performance and the education of the household head
if the household head has completed primary II or secondary education. As in the school
attendance equations, we observe a regional difference for children from female-headed
households. Children from female-headed households in the Northeast do better than
children of those from male-headed households, but in the SE, those in female-headed
households are nor better nor worse off.
The migration dummy, mySsene, is again significant for NE-SE migrants.
Children of migrants from the NE to SE are nine percent more likely to fall behind in
school compared to the rest of the SE population.
33
Table 5.4: Marginal Effects for Correspondence of School Age and Grade -- NE
Number of obs = 25423
LR chi2(9) =14444.79
Probit estimates
Prob > chi2 = 0.0000
Pseudo R2 =0.4187
Log likelihood = -10026.014
x-bar
[95 %
C.I.]
dF/dx
Std.Error
z
P>Iz|
0.007
10.170
0.000
0.499
0.059
0.087
female*
0.073
-0.515
-0.463
-32.880
0.000
12.430
-0.489
0.013
Age
0.014
164.834
0.012
23.960
0.000
0.013
0.001
age 2
0.565
-0.157
-0.128
P0*
-0.143
0.007
-18.880
0.000
primlH*
-0.020
0.009
-2.220
0.026
0.289
-0.038
-0.002
prim2H*
0.261
0.007
31.300
0.000
0.152
0.248
0.274
0.399
secH*
0.389
0.005
52.020
0.000
0.076
0.379
0.274
0.236
-0.007
0.026
0.009
0.008
1.090
femHH*
0.096
m5yNESE*
0.039
0.029
1.280
0.202
0.015
-0.019
bar)
pred. P: 0.687906 (at x
obs. P: 0.585494
(*) dF/dx is for discrete change of dummy variable from 0 to I
z and P>|z| are the test of the underlying coefficient being 0
Note: Variable uniH was dropped during probit estimation.
Source: Author's own calculations based on PNAD 1999.
The negative correlation between NE-SE migration and school attendance as well
as school performance, and evidence from descriptive statistics in Table 5.1 indicate that
children of NE-SE migrants have more difficulties in catching up in school than children
of SE-NE migrants. This could be due to lower quality of education in the NE. Children
of NE-SE migrants therefore have more difficulty adapting to new school curricula in the
SE. Therefore it might be useful to provide additional instruction to children from NE-SE
migrants. Alternatively, efforts to improve the educational quality in the NE might be
warranted.
Table 5.5: Marginal Effects for Correspondence of School Age and Grade -- SE
Probit estimates
Log likelihood = -7966.8103
dF/dx
Std.Error
Z
P>Iz|
0.036
0.005
7.490
0.000
female,*
-0.127
0.009
-11.970
0.000
age
age2
0.001
0.000
3.000
0.003
0.007
-11.650
0.000
P0*
-0.077
0.000
0.008
-14.810
primlH*
-0.120
0.090
0.005
14.660
0.000
prim2H*
0.005
51.610
0.000
secH*
0.238
-2.380
0.017
femHH*
-0.014
0.006
0.027
-3.940
0.000
m5ySENE*
-0.093
obs. P: 0.767718
(*) dF/dx is for discrete change of dummy variable from 0 to 1
z and P>Izl are the test of the underlying coefficient being 0
Note: Variable uniH was dropped during probit estimation.
34
Number of obs = 22929
LR chi2(9) =8922.30
Prob > chi2 =0.0000
Pseudo R2 = 0.3590
x-bar
[95 %
C.I.]
0.492
0.027
0.046
-0.109
12.371
-0.146
163.765
0.000
0.002
0.209
-0.092
-0.063
-0.136
-0.103
0.356
0.241
0.079
0.100
0.154
0.227
0.248
0.210
-0.026
-0.002
-0.146
-0.039
0.014
pred. P: 0.867629 (at x bar)
Source: Author's own calculations based on PNAD 1999.
In sum, there appears to be evidence of a vicious cycle: children in poor
households are less likely to attend school and be on-grade, and parents with low
education have children who lag behind or do not attend school. This is evidence of anintergenerational transfer where children who are born into poverty are likely to continue
being poor. The results show that there are economic barriers to educational attainment,
and unless public interventions in the form of early assistance to educationally at risk
children are made, these children will most likely never escape poverty.
6. Summary and Conclusions
Migration continues to be an important phenomenon in Brazil, and as many as 40 percent
of Brazilians have migrated at some time in their lives. Northeast Brazil has historically
been characterized as a source of migrant outflow, and most out migrants from the
Northeast settled in the Southeast. The major migration routes in Brazil continue to be
Southeast to Northeast and Northeast to Southeast. While the Northeast has recently
undergone comparatively strong economic growth, large gaps between mean incomes and
levels of living of the NE and SE persist. This paper sheds some light on the
determinants of migration between regions and some of the impacts of migration
decisions on households and regions.
The paper's findings show differences between migrants to the SE from the NE
and migrants from the NE to the SE. These differences explain why the migration
patterns emerge: different groups seek rewards in different areas. SE-NE migrants are on
average poorer and less well educated than the Southeast average, while NE-SE migrants
are financially better off and better educated than the Northeast average. This pattern is
troublesome, as it signals that the economic divergence between the Southeast and the
Northeast may grow as a result of migration.
The estimation of returns to migration provides insight into the changes in returns
to migration over time. We find that a common feature in the predicted returns to
migration is that the returns to migration are increasing with education for SE-NE
mnigrants and decreasing for NE-SE migrants.
We further find that returns to migration have been decreasing for NE-SE
migrants and increasing for SE-NE migrants between 1995 and 1999. The predicted
positive returns to migration for NE-SE migrants indicate that NE-SE migrants move to
the SE in search of higher remuneration. The estimated lower returns to migration for
Southeast to Northeast migrants provide only limited support for the human capital
approach to migration and indicate that non-monetary factors may also have a role to play
in SE-NE migration. Returning migrants to the Northeast may be due to adaptation
35
difficulties or a like in the Southeast, and most
of origin for fear of crime.
13
Southerners maybe leaving their region
13 The 1988 Federal Constitution established the universal right to social security and instituted special
eligibility conditions for rural workers under the Regime Geral da Previdencia Social (RGPS), Brazil's
public pension system for workers in the private sector. This right was officially extend to rural areas in
1993. Recent analysis based on the 1996-1997 Pesquisa sobre Padroes de Vida (PPV) survey, found that
the proportion of rural households receiving pensions from public institutions averages 30 percent in
Brazil's poorer Northeast, and 24 percent in the Southeast. Delgado (1999), Beltrao et. al. (1999) and
others find that the implementation of the 1988 eligibility and benefit criteria has been effective in lowering
the incidence of poverty among rural households in particular in the Northeast.
The increase of rural migration could be indicative of such a socioeconomic impacts of the recent pension
reform.
36
Appendix A:
Table Al: Residency in 1999
No.
Rondonia
Acre
Amazonas
Roraima
Para
Amapa
Tocantins
Maranhao
Piaui
Ceara
Rio Grande do Norte
Paraiba
Pernambuco
Alagoas
Sergipe
Bahia
Minas Gerais
Espfrito Santo
Rio de Janeiro
Sao Paulo
ParanA
Santa Catarina
Rio Grande do Sul
Mato Grosso do Sul
Mato Grosso
Goias
Distrito Federal
Total
Source: Author's own calculations
37
836,023
355,597
1,952,288
197,919
3,198,177
398,747
1,141,233
5,432,737
2,738,634
7,128,413
2,661,540
3,380,752
7,594,177
2,719,073
1,719,299
1.3E+07
1.7E+07
2,948,009
1.4E+07
3.6E+07
9,402,912
5,114,846
9,996,461
2,033,859
2,385,812
4,873,181
1,980,740
1.6E+08
based on PNAD 1999.
Appendix B: Variable Declarations
age:
age2:
emplyd:
escola:
expir:
expir 2 :
famsize:
faM2:
female:
femHH:
m5yNESE:
m5ySENE:
moverNS:
moverSN:
NE:
PO:
1997
priml:
primlH:
prim2:
prim2H:
of
scholage:
school:
SE:
secH:
secu:
stayerNN:
stayerSS:
uni:
uniH:
age
squared age
0-1 dummy for employed
0-1 variable, 1: child attends school
experience (age-school-6)
experience squared
family size
famsize squared
0-1 gender dummy for women
0-1 dummy for female household head
0-1 dummy for migrants from the SE into NE over the last 5 years
0-1 dummy for migrants from the NE into SE over the last 5 years
linear predicted wage/income for migrants from NE to SE
linear predicted wage/income for migrants from SE to NE
Northeast
0-1 dummy for household income below poverty line of R$ 65 in
prices
0-1 dummy
0-1 dummy
schooling)
0-1 dummy
0-1 dummy
for primaryl education (4years of schooling)
for household head with primaryl education (4years of
for primary2 education (8 years of schooling)
for household head with primary2 education (8 years
schooling)
0-1 variable, scholage if 1 if:
- primaryl-aged pupile (+/-1 one year, i.e. 7 to 10 years old)
attending primaryl
- primary2-aged pupile (+/-1 one year, i.e. 10 to 14 years old)
attending primary2
- secondary-aged pupile (+/-1 one year, i.e. 14 to 18 years old)
attending
years of completed schooling
Southeast
0-1 dummy for household head with secondary education
0-1 dummy for secondary education (11 years of schooling)
linear predicted wage/income for non-migrants in NE
linear predicted wage/income for non-migrants in SE
0-1 dummy for higher education (more than 11 years of schooling)
0-1 dummy for household head with higher education (more than
14 years of schooling
38
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