Long and Short Distance Migration in Italy: The Role of Economic, Social and Environmental Characteristics

Abstract

This paper analyses Italian interregional migration flows. The approach taken is to decompose labour mobility flows into short distance and long distance migration and to model the effects of economic variables, social capital and quality of life variables, and amenity variables, on the mobility behaviour of individuals. We estimate these different types of migration flows using a negative binomial model, augmented with instruments to control for potential endogeneity issues. Our findings demonstrate that long distance migration reflects a disequilibrium model of migration whereas short distance migration largely reflects an equilibrium model of migration. As such, attempts to model interregional migration in general will be mis-specified as the simultaneously-operating underlying mobility systems are quite different in nature.Migration éloignée et rapprochée en Italie : rôle de facteurs économiques, sociaux et environnementaux RÉ SUMÉ La présente communication analyse les flux migratoires interrégionaux en Italie. Le principe adopté consiste à décomposer les flux de mobilité de la main-d'oeuvre en migrations rapprochée et migration éloignée, puis de modéliser les effets de variables économiques, de variables propres au capital social et à la qualité de vie, et de variables sur le plan de l'agrément sur le comportement de la mobilité des particuliers. Nous effectuons une estimation de ces différents types de flux migratoires en utilisant un modèle binomial négatif, renforcé par des instruments pour le contrôle de questions d'endogénéité potentielles. Nos conclusions démontrent que la migration éloignée reflète un modèle de déséquilibre de la migration, alors que la migration rapprochée reflète en grand partie un modèle déséquilibre de la migration. De cette façon, toutes tentatives de modélisation de migrations interrégionales seront spécifiées de façon erronée, du fait de la nature différente des systèmes de mobilité sous-jacents agissant simultanément. Spatial Economic Analysis, Vol. 6, No. 1, March 2011La migración de larga y corta distancia en Italia: el papel de las características económicas, sociales y ambientales RESUMEN En este trabajo se analizan los flujos migratorios interregionales de Italia. El método adoptado es la descomposición de los flujos de movilidad laboral en migración de corta y migración de larga distancia, y modelar los efectos de las variables económicas, las variables de capital social y de calidad de vida, y las variables de bienestar, con base en el comportamiento de la movilidad de los individuos. Estimamos estos tipos de flujos migratorios diferentes a través de un modelo binomial negativo, ampliado con instrumentos que permiten controlar los posibles problemas de endogeneidad. Nuestras conclusiones demuestran que la migración de larga distancia refleja un modelo desequilibrado de migración, mientras que la migración de corta distancia refleja en gran medida un modelo equilibrado de migración. Como tal, los intentos para modelar la migración interregional, en términos gen...

Interregional Migration and Thresholds: Evidence from Spain

“…Antolin and Bover (1997) conclude that the unemployment rate has no significant effect on international migration and show that emigration occurs from regions where wages are higher than the average, which seems to contradict many of the theoretical findings. These conflicting conclusions are not only observed for the case of Spain, since Italian internal migrations do not react to mass unemployment, as Fachin (2007) found, nor to an increase in GDP, as determined by Biagi and Faggian (2011). Figure 1 shows the evolution of gross internal emigration and the unemployment rate, in the extended period 1988-2010, confirming that the lower the unemployment rate in Spain, the higher the interregional gross migration rate.…”

Why do they return? Beyond the economic drivers of graduate return migration

“…The existing empirical evidence on Europe, despite the tendency of most studies to stress the prevailing importance of economic factors (see for instance Cheshire and Magrini 2006;Faggian and McCann 2009;Ritsilä and Ovaskainen 2001), has recently suggested that quality of life, tolerance and local 'creativity' also play an important role for urban (Faggian and Royuela 2010) and inter-regional (Biagi et al 2011) European migration. Non-economic factors play a key role also in explaining European migration flows: network effects and regional socio-environmental conditions exert a significant influence over the locational choice of migrants (Rodríguez-Pose and Ketterer 2012).…”

The Shape of Mobility: Measuring the Distance Decay Function of Household Mobility

“…For all these reasons, the assumption that the functional form is similar between long-and short-distance moves may not be reasonable. In fact, a recent study in Italy found differences in long-distance versus short-distance moves, concluding that whereas short distance moves reflect an equilibrium model, long distance moves reflect a disequilibrium model (Biagi, Faggian, and McCann 2011). A second limitation is that such research based on aggregate flows cannot account for the individual motivations and determinants that lead to such moves (Greenwood, Mueser, Plane, and Schlottmann 1991).…”