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Migration, Specialization and Trade: Evidence from the Brazilian March to the West

Author

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  • Heitor Pellegrina

    (New York University Abu Dhabi)

  • Sebastian Sotelo

    (The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)

Abstract

Abstract We study how the knowledge that migrants carry over space shapes specialization and trade. Using Brazilian census data, we first document that, upon migration, farmers originating in regions specialized in a crop are more likely to grow that same crop and earn higher incomes than other farmers doing so. Second, we show that the composition of workers in terms of their region of origin correlates with regional exports, after controlling for total sectoral employment. Informed by these facts, we develop and estimate a quantitative dynamic model of trade and migration in which a region's specialization is determined, in part, by the knowledge that migrants in that region carried with them. Applying our model to the large migration of agricultural workers to the west of Brazil since the 1980s, we find that the knowledge carried by migrants contributed substantially to Brazil's recent specialization in exporting commodities, such as soybean.

Suggested Citation

  • Heitor Pellegrina & Sebastian Sotelo, 2019. "Migration, Specialization and Trade: Evidence from the Brazilian March to the West," 2019 Meeting Papers 863, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed019:863
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    3. Remi Jedwab & Federico Haslop & Roman Zarate & Carlos Rodriguez-Castelan, 2023. "The Effects of Climate Change in the Poorest Countries: Evidence from the Permanent Shrinking of Lake Chad," Working Papers 2023-06, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
    4. Florio, Erminia & Manfredonia, Stefano, 2021. "Ancestors, inter-generational transmission of attitudes, and corporate performance: Evidence from the Italian Mass Migration," GLO Discussion Paper Series 830, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Marein, Brian, 2022. "Colonial Roads and Regional Inequality," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    6. Gáfaro, Margarita & Pellegrina, Heitor S., 2022. "Trade, farmers’ heterogeneity, and agricultural productivity: Evidence from Colombia," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    7. Wookun Kim, 2023. "Migration, Commuting, and the Spatial Distribution of Public Spending," Departmental Working Papers 2305, Southern Methodist University, Department of Economics.

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    JEL classification:

    • F11 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Neoclassical Models of Trade
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration

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