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Migration, Specialization, and Trade: Evidence from Brazil's March to the West

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  • Heitor S. Pellegrina
  • Sebastian Sotelo

Abstract

Exploiting a large migration of farmers to the West of Brazil between 1950 and 2010, we study how migration shapes aggregate and regional comparative advantage. We document that farmers emigrating from regions with high employment in an activity are more likely to work in that activity and have higher income than other migrants doing so. We incorporate this heterogeneity into a quantitative model and find that, by reshaping comparative advantage, declines in migration costs contributed substantially to Brazil's rise as a leading commodity exporter. Opportunities to migrate, moreover, account for a substantial share of the gains from trade.

Suggested Citation

  • Heitor S. Pellegrina & Sebastian Sotelo, 2021. "Migration, Specialization, and Trade: Evidence from Brazil's March to the West," NBER Working Papers 28421, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28421
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    Cited by:

    1. Takeda, Kohei, 2022. "The geography of structural transformation: effects on inequality and mobility," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118050, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Fabian Eckert & Michael Peters, 2018. "Spatial Structural Change," 2018 Meeting Papers 98, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    3. Hanson, Gordon & Liu, Chen, 2023. "Immigration and occupational comparative advantage," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    4. 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.
    5. Brian C. Fujiy, 2024. "The Geography of Inventors and Local Knowledge Spillovers in R&D," Working Papers 24-59, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    6. Marein, Brian, 2022. "Colonial Roads and Regional Inequality," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    7. Gáfaro, Margarita & Pellegrina, Heitor S., 2022. "Trade, farmers’ heterogeneity, and agricultural productivity: Evidence from Colombia," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • Q17 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agriculture in International Trade
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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