IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/agi/wpaper/00000272.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Who Are Leaving Metropolitan Areas in the Post-COVID-19 Era:An Analysis of Urban Residents' Migration Decisions in Japan

Author

Listed:
  • PENG, Xue
  • DAI, Erbiao

Abstract

Japan's central and local governments have implemented various measures to encourage internal migration from metropolitan areas to local areas to address issues related to population decrease and unbalanced regional development. However, despite a significant decrease in net migration flow from Japan's local areas to main metropolitan areas over the past 50 years, the net outflow from metropolitan to local areas has remained negative. This suggests that Japan's population migration spatial pattern is more difficult to change than that of developed countries in Europe and America. On the other hand, the three-year-long COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant changes to people's work, consumption, learning, and daily life. Will such changes affect Japanese residents' residential location choices and migration patterns? This paper uses data from "The Fifth Survey on Residents' Life Consciousness and Behavior Changes under the Influence of COVID-19" and a multinomial logit model to conduct empirical analysis. Our findings suggest that individuals who are more likely to leave metropolitan areas are those with relatively low job opportunity costs in metropolitan areas and high employment probabilities in local areas, young adults who have entered the labor market within the past ten years, individuals who have been retired for a few years, and those who prioritize their well-being. In contrast, household-related factors such as marital status, having underage children, and the work status of residents' spouse did not significantly affect their decision to move. These results provide new evidence to support major migration theories. Based on our analysis, policy recommendations are also discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • PENG, Xue & DAI, Erbiao, 2023. "Who Are Leaving Metropolitan Areas in the Post-COVID-19 Era:An Analysis of Urban Residents' Migration Decisions in Japan," AGI Working Paper Series 2023-05, Asian Growth Research Institute.
  • Handle: RePEc:agi:wpaper:00000272
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://id.nii.ac.jp/1270/00000272/
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://agi.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=300&item_no=1&attribute_id=22&file_no=3
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eveline S. van Leeuwen & Viktor A. Venhorst, 2021. "Do households prefer to move up or down the urban hierarchy during an economic crisis?," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 263-289, April.
    2. Max Nathan & Henry Overman, 2020. "Will coronavirus cause a big city exodus?," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 47(9), pages 1537-1542, November.
    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. Tim Schwanen & Patricia L Mokhtarian, 2004. "The Extent and Determinants of Dissonance between Actual and Preferred Residential Neighborhood Type," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 31(5), pages 759-784, October.
    5. Etzo, Ivan, 2008. "Internal migration: a review of the literature," MPRA Paper 8783, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Mathias Dolls & Jan-Carl Mehles, 2021. "Wie beeinflusst die Corona-Pandemie die Wohnortpräferenzen?," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 74(08), pages 27-31, August.
    7. Stark, Oded & Bloom, David E, 1985. "The New Economics of Labor Migration," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 173-178, May.
    8. Hausman, Jerry & McFadden, Daniel, 1984. "Specification Tests for the Multinomial Logit Model," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(5), pages 1219-1240, September.
    9. Mincer, Jacob, 1978. "Family Migration Decisions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(5), pages 749-773, October.
    10. Graves, Philip E. & Linneman, Peter D., 1979. "Household migration: Theoretical and empirical results," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 383-404, July.
    11. Shefrin, Hersh M & Thaler, Richard H, 1988. "The Behavioral Life-Cycle Hypothesis," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 26(4), pages 609-643, October.
    12. Paul A. Samuelson, 1937. "A Note on Measurement of Utility," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 4(2), pages 155-161.
    13. Petra A. Jong & Aleid E. Brouwer & Philip McCann, 2016. "Moving up and down the urban hierarchy: age-articulated interregional migration flows in the Netherlands," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 57(1), pages 145-164, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Cristina Procházková Ilinitchi, 2010. "Selected Migration Theories and their Importance on Drawing Migration Policies [Vybrané teorie migrace a jejich význam při vytváření migračních politik]," Acta Oeconomica Pragensia, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2010(6), pages 3-26.
    2. Kazi Abdul, Mannan & V.V, Kozlov, 1999. "Migration Decision-Making among Bangladeshi Migrants in Italy: A Combined Model Approach," MPRA Paper 103212, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 1999.
    3. Mekonnen Beyene, Berhe, 2011. "Determinants of Internal and International Migration in Ethiopia," Memorandum 24/2011, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    4. Hagen-Zanker, Jessica, 2010. "Modest expectations: Causes and effects of migration on migrant households in source countries," MPRA Paper 29507, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Éric Rougier & Nicolas Yol, 2019. "The volatility effect of diaspora's location," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(6), pages 1796-1827, June.
    6. Ronald L. Whisler & Brigitte S. Waldorf & Gordon F. Mulligan & David A. Plane, 2008. "Quality of Life and the Migration of the College‐Educated: A Life‐Course Approach," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 58-94, March.
    7. Cécile Détang‐Dessendre & Florence Goffette‐Nagot & Virginie Piguet, 2008. "Life Cycle And Migration To Urban And Rural Areas: Estimation Of A Mixed Logit Model On French Data," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 789-824, October.
    8. 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).
    9. Sari Pekkala & Hannu Tervo, 2002. "Unemployment and Migration: Does Moving Help?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 104(4), pages 621-639, December.
    10. Feridhanusetyawan, Tubagus, 1994. "Determinants of interstate migration in the United States: A search theory approach," ISU General Staff Papers 1994010108000012252, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    11. 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).
    12. Mikaela Backman & Lina Bjerke, 2011. "Location of Talent," ERSA conference papers ersa10p415, European Regional Science Association.
    13. Grote, Ulrike & Waibel, Hermann, 2017. "Rural-Urban Migration, Welfare and Employment : Comparing Results from Thailand and Vietnam," 2017 ASAE 9th International Conference, January 11-13, Bangkok, Thailand 284809, Asian Society of Agricultural Economists (ASAE).
    14. Pekkala, Sari, 2003. "What Draws People to Urban Growth Centers: Jobs vs. Pay?," Discussion Papers 310, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    15. Matthew J. Bloomfield & Ulf Brüggemann & Hans B. Christensen & Christian Leuz, 2017. "The Effect of Regulatory Harmonization on Cross‐Border Labor Migration: Evidence from the Accounting Profession," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 35-78, March.
    16. Aleksandr Grigoryan & Knar Khachatryan, 2018. "Remittances and Emigration Intentions: Evidence from Armenia," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp626, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    17. João Pereira, 2007. "Mobilidade Geográfica e Distância da Deslocação em Portugal," Notas Económicas, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, issue 25, pages 42-58, June.
    18. Mohammad Joarder & Syed Hasanuzzaman, 2008. "Migration decision from Bangladesh: permanent versus temporary," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 531-545, November.
    19. Iva Vuksanović Herceg Tomislav Herceg Lorena Škuflić, 2020. "New EU member states’ emigration: Projections for future and lessons for the new EU candidates," Zagreb International Review of Economics and Business, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, vol. 23(2), pages 129-140, November.
    20. Randall Kuhn & Bethany Everett & Rachel Silvey, 2011. "The Effects of Children’s Migration on Elderly Kin’s Health: A Counterfactual Approach," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(1), pages 183-209, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    leaving metropolitan areas; migration decision; Japan; the post-Covid-19 era; leaving metropolitan areas; migration decision; Japan; the post-Covid-19 era;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:agi:wpaper:00000272. 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: Kazuki Tamura (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/icseajp.html .

    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.