Place-To-Place Migration: Some New Evidence

Abstract

Abstract[Excerpt] This paper presents new evidence on the determinants of place-to-place migration in the United States. For understanding the causes of differential migration rates into and out of labor markets, knowledge of place-to-place migration functions is of interest for a number of reasons. Given a thorough understanding of gross place-to-place flows, one can proceed to calculate net flows; the reverse, of course, is not possible. There are also other advantages of place-to-place studies: parallelism to microeconomic behavior, opportunity to investigate specific 'origin-destination match-ups, recognition of the number and location of alternative opportunities for persons residing in different origins, and exploration of possible asymmetries.Following a large body of economic literature, the analytical approach adopted regards migration as a form of human investment. Economic variables used in the empirical-work exhibit effects in the hypothesized direction and explain up to two-thirds of the variance in intermetropolitan migration rates. However, this high degree of explanatory power is achieved only for certain functional specifications involving particular independent variables. Thus, the empirical results confirm the usefulness of the human investment approach to place-to-place migration, but they show too that the economic factors used as explanatory variables must be carefully specified and measured.

Who Leaves? The Outmigration of the Foreign-Born

“…Studies of internal migration within the United States indicate that recent migrants have a high probability of returning to their origin or of moving onto other locations (DaVanzo, 1973;Fields, 1979). Studies of international migration flows also suggest the presence of large numbers of return migrants.…”

How does Emigration affect Labor Markets? Evidence from Road Construction in Brazil

“…The road reduces distances between these municipalities and state capitals (Belém and Teresina). The evidence regarding the effect of distance on the migration outflows in the region is clear not only in Figures 4 and 5, but also in the migration literature (Sjaastad, 1962, Sahota, 1968, Schwartz, 1973, Fields, 1979, Carrington et al, 1996. In the case of the Brazilian transport infrastructure, Oliveira (2013, 2014a) find evidence that access to roads is a significant determinant of migration choice and migration destination.…”

Net Migration and State Labor Market Dynamics

“…These columns include unemployment and are similar to the models estimated by Eichengreen 1992 and Pissarides and McMaster 1990 . 12 In Column 3 it appears that low unemployment increases net migration but that high wages do not have any statistically signi cant e ect. When future labor market conditions are held constant in Column 4, the e ect of unemployment is halved.…”

“…In addition, when m s;t+1 is included in Equation 13, the error term st = st , s;t+1 will usually be serially correlated even if st is not because innovations to migration at time t are part of the forecast error of expectations that were formed the period 9 Labor turnover may be a better measure Fields, 1979 . 10 This age range may still contain many people with weak ties to the labor force.…”