Residential choices of foreign highly skilled workers in the Netherlands and the role of neighbourhood and urban regional characteristics

Abstract

In the international competition for talent, local and national policy makers are keen to better understand the location choices of highly skilled workers in order to design more effective policies geared towards the group's attraction and retention. In this study, we explain whether and to what extent the local living environment, in particular characteristics at the neighbourhood and urban regional level, affect the residential choices of foreign highly skilled workers. We make use of register data from Statistics Netherlands on the residential locations of all of these migrants who entered the Netherlands between 2000 and 2009. We combine this dataset with data on relevant characteristics at the neighbourhood level as well as with relevant amenities and labour market characteristics at the regional level. We estimate a negative binomial regression model to test which characteristics of neighbourhoods and urban regions are associated with high inflows of foreign highly skilled workers at the neighbourhood level. We find that, besides labour market characteristics, the characteristics of the local environment do matter for location choices of foreign highly skilled workers in the Netherlands. This group tends to settle in higher income, inner city neighbourhoods that offer a high degree of urban vibe. Furthermore, residential choices differ between single and multi-person households and change with duration of stay in the country.

The mediating and moderating role of neighbourhoods and regions on second‐generation immigrant youths' school‐to‐work transitions in the Netherlands

“…In terms of selectivity, it is important to not only account for the spatial socioeconomic conditions because negative effects of neighbourhood deprivation might be confounded with immigrant group effects. In particular, a high concentration of coethnics in the neighbourhood can become relevant for the labour market and educational prospects of immigrant youths (Beckers & Boschman, 2017; Wang & Ramsden, 2018; Zorlu & Mulder, 2011; Zuccotti & Platt, 2017). Individuals of similar immigrant background are more likely to interact and form social ties (Giulietti et al, 2013; Granovetter, 1973; Nieuwenhuis et al, 2015; Putnam, 2000).…”

“…Immigrants are known to be not evenly distributed across residential areas. Factors such as economic conditions and the presence of coethnics influence the place of residence of immigrants (Beckers & Boschman, 2017; Viñuela, Gutiérrez Posada, & Rubiera Morollón, 2019; Wang & Ramsden, 2018; Zorlu & Mulder, 2011). This concentration in residential areas suggests that spatial contexts are particularly important for ethnic minorities' employment prospects.…”

Examining Spatial Heterogeneity Effects of Landscape and Environment on the Residential Location Choice of the Highly Educated Population in Guangzhou, China

“…The characteristics and factors influencing residential location choice vary among different demographics [2]. The highly educated population, which forms a city's valuable human resource and the basis for its innovative and sustainable development, has become the target of contention for various cities [3,4]. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the characteristics and mechanisms of the highly educated population's choice of residential location not only helps in attracting talents, but also provides an important reference point for improving the competitiveness and sustainable development of cities.…”

“…The highly educated population, with a higher income and more elevated social status, show greater need for landscape and environment. Studies have found that landscape and environment exert a significant impact on the housing choices of highly educated people [3], which warrants the study of such factors. From the perspective of human needs, the choice of residential location tends to be based on convenience first, and then on landscape and environment, which serve to satisfy higher-level living needs.…”

Three Essays on Urban Consumer Service Firms: Evidence from Yelp

“…With the rise of the consumer city (Glaeser et al, 2001;Glaeser and Gottlieb, 2006), people are drawn to cities for their diverse and dense array of amenities. In cities people migrate to areas with attractive amenities (Zheng, 2016), including restaurants (Beckers and Boschman, 2017). Restaurants are an important amenity, and residents not only value the quantity of restaurants but also the ratings of restaurants (Kuang, 2017…”