this paper uses is the number of non-Venezuelan migrants working at the firm. Although more non-Venezuelan migrants working in the firm may help Venezuelans to find a job or wage employment at the firm, it is unlikely that it will lead them to be more productive and earning a higher wage, especially in an environment, where the official language is di↵erent from the native language spoken by Venezuelans. The model below shows the second stage estimated in the Heckman model and for the OLS model, the same variables are included except the _λ_ s (Inverse Mills ratio).

where _wijz_ refers to individual’s hourly wage and _Mijz_ is individual, _i_<sup>_0_</sup> _s_ socio-demographic characteristics like age, gender, education, occupation dummies, contract types, and the firm’s characteristics like size and industry. _V enezuelanijz_ is an indicator variable which takes the value of 1 if the individual is a Venezuelan by birth and 0 for Brazilians. Thus, _γ_ 3 captures the wage gap between the Venezuelan and the Brazilian. To identify the underlying causes of the wage gap, an Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition is performed at the mean (Oaxaca and Ransom, 1994). Specifically, the above equation is estimated separately for Venezuelan and Brazilian and then _D_ is calculated, which is the di↵erence in the expected value of Venezuelan and Brazilian wages obtained by estimating the wage equation separately. _D_ can then be decomposed into two parts - one that reflects the di↵erences attributed to the observed characteristics (E) and the other reflects di↵erences in coefficients (C). So, it can be expressed as: where the over-line represents the expected value of the variables, _V_ represents Venezuelans, _B_ represents Brazilians and the _γ_ s are the estimated coefficients, while _γ⇤_ represents the weighted average of the other coefficients. The first term in the above equation is the explained component of the wage gap, that is E, while the second term is the unexplained component, the C, which is the di↵erence in the return to the observed characteristics of Venezuelans and Brazilians, evaluated at the mean of the characteristics.

# **3.2.3 Social Protection Programs**

Providing social security to all irrespective of legal status is a constitutional obligation in Brazil. Social security in Brazil is organized in three main blocks, social welfare and pensions, which is contributory and social assistance and health, which is non-contributory. This paper focuses on social assistance programs that are administered and implemented jointly by the federal, state and municipal governments. The two largest social assistance cash transfer programs are _Bolsa Familia_ and the Continuous Benefit Provision (BPC). Social assistance programs are designed to target the vulnerable at each part of their life cycles. For example, _Bolsa Familia_ (PBF), which is a conditional cash transfer for households living in poverty and extreme poverty, targets not only families but also pregnant mothers, children and adolescents. BPC, Continuous Benefit Provision targets the elderly (those above 65 years) and the people with disabilities who cannot support themselves.

The Single Registry of Social Programs _(CadUnico)_<sup>_ ́_</sup> is a database that collects details about 15