The effect of labor‐market differentials on interregional migration in Spain: A meta‐regression analysis

Abstract

This paper performs a meta-regression analysis to derive the role of techniques, data and variable's definition on the effect of the labor-market determinants on interregional migration.We use Spain as a case of study, a country with heterogeneous and even counterintuitive behavior of internal migration flows to its labor-market drivers. We use data from studies released over the last 40 years. The results show that migration flows respond to labor-market differentials in a theoretically consistent way. We find that the vast diversity in the studies' attributes is behind the significant heterogeneity of their estimated effects. Differences in aggregation level, variables measures, model specification, and the national economic context influence the identification of the push and pull effects.

Local attributes and migration balance – evidence for different age and skill groups from a machine learning approach

“…On the other hand, density may give rise to agglomeration advantages such as intense interaction and knowledge transfer from which the region's migration balance should benefit as they represent centripetal forces (see, e.g., Buch et al, 2017). Alvarez and Royuela (2022) note that new economic geography models also have implications for interregional migration and the role of centrifugal and centripetal forces in this context. For instance, Crozet (2004) describes migration decisions as a function of wages, unemployment, transport costs and the region's access to markets.…”

“…There is a vast amount of empirical literature on regional migration that provides evidence on various factors which are supposed to influence migration behaviour. While some authors stress the importance of labour market conditions (e.g., Alvarez & Royuela, 2022; DaVanzo, 1978; Scott, 2010; Shapiro, 2006), others emphasize the relevance of amenities (e.g., Glaeser & Gottlieb, 2006; Porell, 1982; Rodriguez‐Pose & Ketterer, 2012). However, the set of explanatory variables included in the analyses often tends to be fairly limited.…”

“…However, the approach does not refer directly to a change in the regional labour force. Moreover, estimation of spatial interaction models is subject to some methodological challenges such as the endogeneity of the spatial system, a lack of valid instruments and an absence of independence of irrelevant alternatives (seeAlvarez & Royuela, 2022;Beine et al, 2016).3 We use the housing price index of the RWI -Leibniz Institute for Economic Research (seeKlick et al, 2019) as an alternative housing market indicator.…”

Migration Impact on the Labour Market and Economic Activity of Kazakhstan

“…In studies from different countries (Australia, Austria, Germany, UK, Netherlands, Norway, USA, France), no unequivocally positive or negative study of immigration on wages and employment was found. In the UK and the US, immigration has been found to have reduced pressure on wages in the distribution but marked a significant increase in wages at the top and bottom of the distribution (Alvarez & Royuela, 2022).…”

“…Most of the studies rely on the analysis of the distribution of shares of foreigners in different regions to determine the impact of migration on the labor market. Various methods are used, including modelling and econometric assessments, to understand better migration's impact on the labor market and its broader implications (Borjas, 2003;Brucker & Jahn, 2008;Alvarez & Royuela, 2022). Migration can have a particularly significant impact is in the unskilled and lowpaid sectors of the economy, where migrants are often involved in manual labor such as agriculture or construction.…”