Wealth constraints, migrant selection, and inequality in developing countries

This paper builds a theoretical framework for studying migration and education in developing countries. Migration and education decisions are affected by migrants' wealth constraints. Technology and migration costs determine the pattern of migration through level of education, income, and wealth inequality. The model predicts that in the first stages of technological development, migration rates increase, as does economic inequality over time, for high migration costs. At more advanced stages of development, migration rates and wealth inequality decline. I show that these predictions are in line with the data.