  In this paper we analyze the rural-urban migration phenomena as it is usually
observed in economies which are in the early stages of industrialization. The
analysis is conducted by means of a statistical mechanics approach which builds
a computational agent-based model. Agents are placed on a lattice and the
connections among them are described via an Ising like model. Simulations on
this computational model show some emergent properties that are common in
developing economies, such as a transitional dynamics characterized by
continuous growth of urban population, followed by the equalization of expected
wages between rural and urban sectors (Harris-Todaro equilibrium condition),
urban concentration and increasing of per capita income.
