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Migration And Self‐Selection: Measured Earnings And Latent Characteristics

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  • Robert A. Nakosteen
  • Olle Westerlund
  • Michael Zimmer

Abstract

ABSTRACT Research in regional and labor economics has established that economic incentives play a significant role in the process of internal migration. The most common approach is to view migration as a form of human capital investment undertaken by individuals who expect to benefit from the standpoint of increased earnings. One of the central concepts in these models is self‐selection. Individuals who self‐select the option of migration tend to differ from the nonmigrant population in ways that are not measured in most data sets. The contribution of this paper is in its distinction between two aspects of migrant selection. On one hand, some workers possess unmeasured traits that might simultaneously affect their wages and their propensity to engage in risky human capital investment such as migration. On the other hand, measured earnings might exert a direct effect on migration. Based on samples of employed Swedish males and females at two points in time, this study seeks first to examine whether migration between the two periods occurs in the presence of correlation between unmeasured factors present in both earnings during the first period and the subsequent decision to migrate. Second, it looks for an explicit role of earnings per se in the migration decision. Results of the study provide support for selection based on unmeasured traits for both genders. For females, there is also evidence of selection based on measured earnings.

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  • Robert A. Nakosteen & Olle Westerlund & Michael Zimmer, 2008. "Migration And Self‐Selection: Measured Earnings And Latent Characteristics," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 769-788, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jregsc:v:48:y:2008:i:4:p:769-788
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9787.2008.00576.x
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    Cited by:

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    3. Ng, Kar Yee & Said, Rusmawati, 2015. "The Role of Labour Standards in Shaping Migration: The ASEAN Perspectives," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 49(2), pages 3-15.
    4. Klaus Nowotny, 2011. "Welfare Magnets, Taxation and the Location Decisions of Migrants to the EU," ERSA conference papers ersa11p133, European Regional Science Association.
    5. Christopher Goetz, 2014. "Unemployment Duration And Geographic Mobility: Do Movers Fare Better Than Stayers?," Working Papers 14-41, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    6. Dijk, J. van & Broersma, L. & Edzes, A.J.E. & Venhorst, V.A, 2011. "Brain drain of brain gain? Hoger opgeleiden in grote steden in Nederland," Research Reports vavenhorst, University of Groningen, Urban and Regional Studies Institute (URSI).
    7. Sergii TROSHCHENKOV, 2016. "Return to Commuting Distance in Sweden," Departmental Working Papers 2016-08, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    8. Maria Abreu & Alessandra Faggian & Philip McCann, 2011. "Migration and inter-industry mobility of UK graduates: Effect on earnings and career satisfaction," ERSA conference papers ersa11p118, European Regional Science Association.
    9. Petri Böckerman & Mika Haapanen, 2013. "Does higher education enhance migration?," Working Papers 287, Työn ja talouden tutkimus LABORE, The Labour Institute for Economic Research LABORE.
    10. Nejad, Maryam Naghsh & Schurer, Stefanie, 2022. "Cognitive and non-cognitive abilities of immigrants: New perspectives on migrant quality from a selective immigration country," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 107-124.
    11. Philippe Lemistre & Marie-Benoit Magrini, 2011. "Job Qualification, Distance between Towns and Geographical Relocation for French Youth," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(10), pages 2141-2161, August.
    12. Venhorst, V. & Cörvers, F., 2015. "Entry into working life: Spatial mobility and the job match quality of higher-educated graduates," ROA Research Memorandum 003, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    13. Peter Huber & Klaus Nowotny & Julia Bock-Schappelwein, 2010. "Qualification Structure, Over- and Under-qualification of the Foreign Born in Austria and the EU," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 41226, April.
    14. Kent Eliasson & Robert Nakosteen & Olle Westerlund & Michael Zimmer, 2014. "All in the family: Self-selection and migration by couples," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(1), pages 101-124, March.
    15. Kevin Thomas, 2012. "Migration Processes, Familial Characteristics, and Schooling Dropout Among Black Youths," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(2), pages 477-498, May.
    16. Böckerman, Petri & Haapanen, Mika, 2010. "The effect of education on migration: Evidence from school reform," MPRA Paper 27629, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Ruben Hernandez-Murillo & Lesli S. Ott & Michael T. Owyang & Denise Whalen, 2011. "Patterns of interstate migration in the United States from the survey of income and program participation," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 93(May), pages 169-186.
    18. Klaus Nowotny, 2011. "AFLA – Arbeitskräftemobilität und Fachkräftebedarf nach der Liberalisierung des österreichischen Arbeitsmarktes. Migrations- und Pendelpotentiale nach Ende der Übergangsfristen für die Arbeitskräftefr," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 41563, April.
    19. Ryan M. Gallagher & Joseph Persky, 2020. "Heterogeneity of birth‐state effects on internal migration," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 517-537, June.
    20. repec:mpr:mprres:6984 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Kentaro Nakajima & Ryosuke Okamoto, 2014. "Measuring the sorting effect of migration on spatial wage disparities," GRIPS Discussion Papers 14-19, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
    22. Wolfgang Maennig & Matthias Ottmann, 2011. "Perspektiven des deutschen Immobilienmarktes und wirtschaftspolitische Herausforderungen," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 12(2), pages 192-214, May.
    23. Klaus Nowotny & Robert Hierländer, 2009. "FAMO – Fachkräftemonitoring. Regelmäßige Erhebung des Angebots und des Bedarfs an Fachkräften in der Grenzregion Ostösterreichs mit der Slowakei. FAMO I: Migrations- und Pendelpotentiale in Wien und d," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 37422, April.

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