Inter-State Internal Migration: State-level Wellbeing as a Cause

Abstract

The relationship between subjective wellbeing and in-migration is explored in this paper. The wellbeing of a state is considered an incentive for in-migration to that state as the wellbeing in that state increases. A cross-sectional, multiple regression on the contiguous states in the United States was used to determine if there is any relationship. A significant and positive relationship was found between state-level subjective wellbeing and net in-migration when controlling for economic and non-economic variables typically associated with in-migration. The positive relationship indicates that as a state's wellbeing increases its appeal as a destination for internal migrants increases as well. It is recommended for policymakers to focus on improving the subjective wellbeing of their state's residents not only to retain and attract new residents, but as a general measure of successful administration. Future studies are needed to verify the link between a state's wellbeing and in-migration to that state. This study serves as a first step in this literature.

How Selective Mobility, Social and Ecological Influence may Impact Geographic Variations in Life Satisfaction Scores: An Australian Longitudinal Study

“…This pattern in subjective individual wellbeing path may not be limited to selective mobility as it reflects a pattern observed by Nowok et al (2013) for all internal migrants in the UK: the move happens after a period of stress with low levels of happiness and is followed with an improvement in happiness levels, although the same study noted that the improvement may only be transitory. Our findings are also consistent with previous evidence that rural and warmer locations with higher levels of happiness wellbeing attract more migrants (Hummel, 2016).…”

“…The results from that study show that migration generally takes place after a period of stress: happiness peaks just after the move, but in the long term it seems to stabilise to the pre-stress level (Nowok et al 2013). A similar study on inter-state migration in the US finds that a state with higher wellbeing levels among its residents will attract migrants from other states (Hummel, 2016).…”

Happiness and Migration

“…A similar picture emerges for internal migration decisions. Happier places in the United States grew at substantially faster rates than did less happy places due to higher net intra-country migration, controlling for economic and noneconomic variables typically associated with intracountry migration (Lucas 2014;Glaeser et al 2016;Hummel 2016). However, Glaeser et al (2016) note that this process is slow so that cities may remain unhappy for long periods, implying that people are not happiness-maximizing but trade off happiness against other competing objectives such as higher wages and lower housing prices.…”

Spatio-Temporal Patterns and Determinants of Inter-Provincial Migration in China 1995–2015

“…Figure 1 shows the provincial geography of China. Figures 2 and 3 shows the proportion of in-migration and out-migration of 31 provinces (including autonomous regions and municipalities) to the total inter-provincial migration in China during the four periods of 1995-2000, 2000-2010and 2010-2015. In 1995-2000, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Beijing, Fujian and Xinjiang were the main provinces of in-migration.…”

“…Therefore, the phenomenon of population reflow should receive more attention. In essence, the migration process is the migrants' response to the difference between origin and destination provinces, which may be jointly affected by climate change [35], income disparity [36], institutions [3], foreign direct investment (FDI) and many other factors [37,38]. These forces, including 'pull' and 'push' forces, affect the migration flow from province i to province j.…”