Educational Selectivity in Intraregional Migration in South America

Previous research has provided evidence of positive educational selection into South-North migration flows, showing that immigrants to developed countries tend to be more educated than non-migrants in their home countries. However, we know little about whether and how educational selectivity operates in other types of migration flows. This study tests whether theories of educational selectivity apply to a growing South-South migration flow: intraregional migration in South America. Using census data from three large receiving countries in South America (Argentina, Brazil, and Chile) and the corresponding major South American sending countries, we assess whether immigrants are more or less educated than non-migrants in their home countries and analyze if and how educational selectivity varies by gender, receiving country, country of origin, and labor market characteristics. Preliminary findings suggest that most intraregional migrants in South America are positively selected on education, but that the degree of selectivity varies by gender, country of origin, and labor market characteristics.