Effects of inter-municipal mobility on income inequality in Brazil: a counterfactual analysis

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the effects of migration among municipalities on the pattern of income distribution of the levels of the urban hierarchy in Brazil. Using data from Census of IBGE (2000) and from Regions of Influence of the Cities - REGIC / IBGE (2008) was performed a counterfactual exercise to estimate how would be the distribution of income if no migration had occurred in the period of 1995-2000. The main result indicates that the income inequality among individuals would be reduced as a consequence of migration. Additionally, the result indicates that migration has caused a transfer of part of the income of large cities to lower levels of the urban hierarchy. Therefore, the migration among municipalities contributed to the reduction of inequality between the levels of the Brazilian urban hierarchy.