IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/inrsre/v26y2003i1p38-67.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Out-Migration, Depopulation, And The Geography Of U.S. Economic Distress

Author

Listed:
  • Edward Feser

    (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC)

  • Stuart Sweeney

    (University of California, Santa Barbara, CA)

Abstract

This article uses data from the 1969 to 1999 period to examine the spatial extent and temporal persistence ofU.S. economic distress as viewed by three different indicators: unemployment, low income, and out-migration-induced population decline. The basic unit of analysis is the commuter zone. The shifting geography of distress is summarized for the four census regions and three regions of traditional economic development concern. The research grew out of an effort to assist the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) in a review of criteria used to target development assistance. EDA was concerned that it may be neglecting distress associated with out-migration-induced population decline; that is, that some regions may be deserving of development aid even if their level of distress appears moderate based on the traditional core criteria: low income and high unemployment. The authors address the practical and theoretical issues associated with out-migration-induced population decline as a type of economic distress and comment on the development priorities implied by each of the three indicators.

Suggested Citation

  • Edward Feser & Stuart Sweeney, 2003. "Out-Migration, Depopulation, And The Geography Of U.S. Economic Distress," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 26(1), pages 38-67, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:inrsre:v:26:y:2003:i:1:p:38-67
    DOI: 10.1177/0160017602238985
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0160017602238985
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0160017602238985?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Calvin Beale, 1969. "Natural decrease of population: The current and prospective status of an emergent American phenomenon," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 6(2), pages 91-99, May.
    2. Clarence J. Hein, 1960. "Rural Local Government in Sparsely Populated Areas," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 42(4), pages 827-841.
    3. Larry A. Sjaastad, 1970. "The Costs and Returns of Human Migration," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Harry W. Richardson (ed.), Regional Economics, chapter 9, pages 115-133, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. J.S.L. McCombie, 1988. "A Synoptic View of Regional Growth and Unemployment: I - The Neoclassical Theory," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 25(4), pages 267-281, August.
    5. Borjas, George J. & Bronars, Stephen G. & Trejo, Stephen J., 1992. "Self-selection and internal migration in the United States," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 159-185, September.
    6. Kwok, Viem & Leland, Hayne, 1982. "An Economic Model of the Brain Drain," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(1), pages 91-100, March.
    7. H. Chang, 1974. "Natural population decrease in Iowa counties," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 11(4), pages 657-672, November.
    8. Carlino, Gerald A. & Mills, Leonard, 1996. "Testing neoclassical convergence in regional incomes and earnings," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 565-590, December.
    9. J.S.L. McCombie, 1988. "A Synoptic View of Regional Growth and Unemployment: II —The Post-Keynesian Theory," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 25(5), pages 399-417, October.
    10. John Vanderkamp, 1970. "The Effect of Out-Migration on Regional Employment," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 3(4), pages 541-549, November.
    11. John Muehlbeier, 1969. "Problems that Persist in the Great Plains," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 51(5), pages 1089-1096.
    12. Sergio Rey & Brett Montouri, 1999. "US Regional Income Convergence: A Spatial Econometric Perspective," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 143-156.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Annekatrin Niebuhr & Nadia Granato & Anette Haas & Silke Hamann, 2012. "Does Labour Mobility Reduce Disparities between Regional Labour Markets in Germany?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(7), pages 841-858, September.
    2. Rebecca M. Blank, 2005. "Poverty, Policy, and Place: How Poverty and Policies to Alleviate Poverty Are Shaped by Local Characteristics," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 28(4), pages 441-464, October.
    3. Bev Wilson & Mallory L. Rahe, 2016. "Rural prosperity and federal expenditures, 2000–2010," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(1-2), pages 3-26, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marx, Matt & Singh, Jasjit & Fleming, Lee, 2015. "Regional disadvantage? Employee non-compete agreements and brain drain," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 394-404.
    2. Kristiina Huttunen & Jarle Møen & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2018. "Job Loss and Regional Mobility," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(2), pages 479-509.
    3. Egger Eva-Maria, 2021. "Migrating out of mega-cities: Evidence from Brazil," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 12(1), pages 1-35, January.
    4. Leah Platt Boustan & Price V. Fishback & Shawn Kantor, 2010. "The Effect of Internal Migration on Local Labor Markets:American Cities during the Great Depression," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(4), pages 719-746, October.
    5. Jennifer Hunt, 2004. "Are migrants more skilled than non-migrants? Repeat, return, and same-employer migrants," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 37(4), pages 830-849, November.
    6. Ye Seul Choi & Up Lim, 2015. "Effects of Regional Creative Milieu on Interregional Migration of the Highly Educated in Korea: Evidence from Hierarchical Cross-Classified Linear Modeling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-18, December.
    7. Giuseppe Arbia & Jean H. P. Paelinck, 2003. "Spatial Econometric Modeling of Regional Convergence in Continuous Time," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 26(3), pages 342-362, July.
    8. Éric Rougier & Nicolas Yol, 2019. "The volatility effect of diaspora's location," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(6), pages 1796-1827, June.
    9. Partridge, Mark D. & Tsvetkova, Alexandra, 2018. "Local ability to "rewire" and socioeconomic performance: Evidence from US counties before and after the Great Recession," MPRA Paper 89313, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Chen, Shunlong & Arun, Thankom G., 2004. "Openness, Technological Capabilities and Regional Disparities in China," Centre on Regulation and Competition (CRC) Working papers 30622, University of Manchester, Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM).
    11. Daniëlle Bertrand-Cloodt & Frank Cörvers & Hans Heijke, 2017. "Ability, Academic Climate, and Going Abroad for Work or Pursuing a PhD," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 63(1), pages 119-140.
    12. Julie Le Gallo & Sandy Dall'erba, 2008. "Spatial and sectoral productivity convergence between European regions, 1975–2000," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 87(4), pages 505-525, November.
    13. Cem Ertur & Julie Le Gallo & Catherine Baumont, 2006. "The European Regional Convergence Process, 1980-1995: Do Spatial Regimes and Spatial Dependence Matter?," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 29(1), pages 3-34, January.
    14. Brian Cushing & Jacques Poot, 2004. "Crossing boundaries and borders: Regional science advances in migration modelling," Advances in Spatial Science, in: Raymond J. G. M. Florax & David A. Plane (ed.), Fifty Years of Regional Science, pages 317-338, Springer.
    15. Qin, Xuezheng & Hsieh, Chee-Ruey, 2014. "Economic growth and the geographic maldistribution of health care resources: Evidence from China, 1949-2010," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 228-246.
    16. Caliendo, Marco & Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Hennecke, Juliane & Uhlendorff, Arne, 2019. "Locus of control and internal migration," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Tobias Ketterer, 2015. "Do we follow the money? The drivers of migration across regions in the EU," REGION, European Regional Science Association, vol. 2, pages 27-45.
    18. Johan Lundberg, 2006. "Using spatial econometrics to analyse local growth in Sweden," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(3), pages 303-316.
    19. Bratsberg, Bernt, 1995. "The incidence of non-return among foreign students in the United States," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 373-384, December.
    20. Dominique M. Gross & Nicolas Schmitt, 2006. "Why do Low- and High-Skill Workers Migrate? Flow Evidence from France," CESifo Working Paper Series 1797, CESifo.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:inrsre:v:26:y:2003:i:1:p:38-67. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.