Migration and Economic Growth in Brazil: Empirical Applications Based on the Solow-Swan Model

Abstract

The paper addresses the question of whether migration plays a role in the determination of the per capita incomes in sub-regions of Brazil. In order to discuss this relationship, we slightly modified the Solow-Swan model with migration to better resemble the Brazilian context. Based on this model, we determined theoretically five different possibilities for the spatial dynamics regarding net migration, human capital differentials between migrants and nonmigrants, and capital stock per effective worker. We applied this framework to census data and the microregions in Brazil were empirically classified in one or other of these possibilities with the multivariate technique of cluster analysis. Finally, we used econometric models with instrumental variables applied to panel data and observed a tendency of increase in the variability of per capita income due to migration.

Associations between migration and commuting to work in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo

“…Concerning the implications of this study for public policies, commuting and migration are demographic processes that may have a remarkable impact on the distribution of the population, in particular of human capital, with outstanding consequences for growth and regional disparities (Golgher et al, 2011; Lukic, 2009). The results discussed in this paper clarify some of the determinants of commuting and migration, which directly influence regional economic inequalities.…”