Immigrants in skilled occupations in Brazil : Assessing the factors impacting wages

The gravity model of immigration advocates that immigrants rationally weigh up the attractiveness of host countries to make their destination choice, being earnings levels and wage discrimination the main positive and negative drivers respectively. Giving that Brazil faces a shortage of human capital, understanding these factors in the Brazilian context is essential to design more attractive migration policies. Therefore, this chapter aims to assess the factors impacting earnings of immigrants in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) occupations in Brazil. Findings demonstrate there is no evidence of wage discrimination between immigrants and native-born Brazilians. Moreover, the analysis points that immigrants, just like Brazilians, face a historical system of income discrimination based on gender and ethnoracial hierarchies. Therefore, to enhance the attraction of skilled foreign labour force and bring economic development to the country, Brazilian immigration policy should target active mechanisms that ensure equal paying