Job Search and Migration in Peru1

Abstract. Most of the empirical literature on migration in the context of developing countries focuses on migration from rural to urban areas. This paper aims to extend the analysis by incorporating rural-rural migration in Peru for the year of 1997. Based on a theoretical result, three empirical factors are explored in the paper using data from the Peruvian Living Standard Measurement Survey. First, wage differ-entials from different jobs shape the probabilities of rural-urban and rural-rural migration in distinct ways. Second, as compared with individuals that migrate to rural areas, urban migrants accumulate private wealth – in the form of durable goods- and acquire more public services. Finally, migrants are equally likely to move to a ru-ral or an urban district as long as these are located in richer prov-inces