Confronted with poor prospects, many persons in the Brazilian Northeast migrate south in search of better opportunities. How successful they are is a matter of considerable interest to policymakers. Migration flows can be an important element in a country's economic development. The process also offers a potential market solution to the problem of regional poverty. Critics, however, maintainin actuality, migration merely serves to export poverty. In this paper 1980 Census microdata are used to evaluate the experiences of males who moved from the Northeast to the Southeast in the post‐“miraclc” period. Using regression analysis, migrant earnings are compared to those of persons who remain in the Northeast, to estimate the average earnings gain from relocating. These results are then disaggregated by education, age at migration, period of residence, and particular sending and receiving location, to provide more specific information on which groups benefit most. Wide variation in gains is observed, but substantial improvements in earnings are reported in most cases. The earnings of migrants are also related to the earnings distribution of all workers in the Southeast. Less than one‐fifth of the migrants fall into the category of relative poverty. Copyright © 1992, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved

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statistical analysis Studies Research Methodology residential mobility Comparative Studies educational status South and Central America Americas Latin America regression analysis economics population demography developing country Population Dynamics Developing Countries Migration, Internal comparative study socioeconomic status migration rate Men Residence Characteristics spatial distribution income social status geography South America Socioeconomic Factors population change socioeconomics Western Hemisphere Migrants--men census data migrant earnings economic migrants migrant income Article migration age Geographic Factors Age Factors population and population related phenomena Demographic Factors research Emigration and Immigration Brazil Economic Factors Transients and Migrants social class Population Characteristics