Why did Swedish regional net migration rates fall in the 1970s? The role of policy changes versus structural change, 1945–1985

Abstract

The relationship between local labour market conditions and regional migration has been widely discussed within research. In Sweden, where interregional migration reached a peak in the 1960s but decreased substantially in the 1970s, the role of economic policy has been especially contended in light of the Swedish model and its official stress on regional mobility. By collecting and creating a new and unique dataset on net-migration, vacancy rates, employment and labour income by county, the pattern of interregional migration in Sweden is analysed over a period of time that also covers the early postwar period (1945-1985), allowing for a detailed evaluation of the drivers of migration at different times. My results suggest that there was no significant change over time in the responsiveness of migration to local labour market conditions. The changing patterns of regional migration were therefore more likely the result of changes in the pace and direction of structural change. I discuss the implications of these results for previous accounts of the Swedish model and of the decline in migration after 1970.

Interregional Labor Migration as a Tool to Increase Regional Labor Productivity: The Case of Russia

“…Issues relating to interregional migration are widely covered in recent studies (Benier and Corcoran, 2018;Biagi and Dotzel, 2018;Capasso et al, 2012;Cao et al, 2018;Denisov, 2018;Gerolimetto and Magrini, 2018;Rivera-Batiz, 2018;Simonen, Svento, Karhinen and McCann, 2018), including labor migration (Arntz, 2010;Ding, 2009;Haussen and Uebelmesser, 2018;Moshiri and Moghaddam, 2018;Sanchez-Moral et al, 2018;Simonen et al, 2018;Zhou et al, 2018). Scientific community also pays attention to the problem of migration regulation (Bystrov, Shishaev, Malygina and Khaliullina, 2018;Molinder, 2018;Nuraeny, 2018;Prytkova, 2017). Despite the many factors influencing labor productivity studied in the literature, it should be noted that the change in the numerical and qualitative structure of the labor force of the territory due to interregional labor migration as an independent factor has not yet been considered.…”

How effective are mobility subsidies in targeting the unemployed? Lessons from the Swedish Model, 1965–1975

“…At this time, as much as 1% of the population in the northern counties, where unemployment was high relative to the expansive south, moved with support from the program. However, subsequently, the program was downsized, in part as a response to political pressure, and in part because internal migration fell overall in the 1970s (Molinder, 2018; Molinder et al, 2017).…”