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Abstract
Evidence is presented in support of the “brain gain” view that the likelihood of migrating to a
destination wherein the returns to human capital (schooling) are high creates incentives to
acquire human capital in migrant-sending areas. In Mexico, even though internal migrants are
more educated than those who stay behind, the average level of schooling in the migrant-sending
villages increases with internal migration. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that the
dynamic investment effects reverse the static, depletion effects of migration on schooling.
Households’ access to high-skill internal migration networks significantly increases the
likelihood that children will attend school beyond the compulsory level. Access to low-skill
internal networks has the opposite effect. By contrast with internal migration, migration from
rural Mexico to the U.S. does not select positively on schooling, nor does it significantly
influence human capital formation, even though remittances from Mexican migrants in the U.S.
far outweigh remittances from internal migrants.