  Two-component conductors -- e.g., semi-metals and narrow band semiconductors
-- often exhibit unusually strong magnetoresistance in a wide temperature
range. Suppression of the Hall voltage near charge neutrality in such systems
gives rise to a strong quasiparticle drift in the direction perpendicular to
the electric current and magnetic field. This drift is responsible for a strong
geometrical increase of resistance even in weak magnetic fields. Combining the
Boltzmann kinetic equation with sample electrostatics, we develop a microscopic
theory of magnetotransport in two and three spatial dimensions. The compensated
Hall effect in confined geometry is always accompanied by electron-hole
recombination near the sample edges and at large-scale inhomogeneities. As the
result, classical edge currents may dominate the resistance in the vicinity of
charge compensation. The effect leads to linear magnetoresistance in two
dimensions in a broad range of parameters. In three dimensions, the
magnetoresistance is normally quadratic in the field, with the linear regime
restricted to rectangular samples with magnetic field directed perpendicular to
the sample surface. Finally, we discuss the effects of heat flow and
temperature inhomogeneities on the magnetoresistance.
