Characteristics of Venezuelan Migration to Brazil: General Aspects and Labour Market Allocation

This paper investigates the allocation of Venezuelan migrants into the Brazilian labour market. Using a rich employer–employee administrative data and georeferenced information from firms, this study offers a comprehensive characterisation of this migration flow, shedding light on lesser–known aspects of Venezuelan migration to Brazil. The findings show that firms with pre–existing networks of foreign workers and those close to networks providing access to the country of origin were more likely to hire Venezuelans during the peak inflow. On average, firms that absorbed these workers were larger, less productive, and primarily employed lower–quality workers. Regarding the occupations for which migrants were hired, results show that these roles were low–quality, with lower hierarchical levels, and presented a smaller residual between the observed wage and the potential predicted wage. Overall, the results suggest that Venezuelan migrants have predominantly been allocated into lower–quality jobs within less productive firms, offering valuable insights into the economic integration challenges faced by displaced populations.