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The Contrasting Importance of Quality of Life and Quality of Business for Domestic and International Migrants

Author

Listed:
  • Arthur Grimes

    (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research)

  • Kate Preston

    (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research)

  • David C Maré

    (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research)

  • Shaan Badenhorst

    (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research)

  • Stuart Donovan

    (Vrije Universiteit)

Abstract

We examine whether bilateral regional migration flows are driven by the city’s quality of life (QL) or quality of business (QB). The QL and QB measures are constructed using (quality-adjusted) rents and wages in each city. QL and QB reflect the willingness to pay of households and firms, respectively, for local amenities. The measures are constructed for 31 urban areas in New Zealand using five-yearly census data covering 1986 to 2013. We adopt a gravity model of regional migration – augmented by destination and origin QL and QB – to model bilateral flows of working-age migrants (post tertiary education and pre-retirement age). We also model flows between urban and rural areas and flows for the urban areas to and from overseas locations. We find different attractors for international versus domestic migrants according to the type of city amenity. International migrants are more attracted to cities with productive amenities whereas domestic migrants are more attracted to places with consumption amenities. Thus, in deciding on the type of city amenity to enhance, city officials implicitly choose the type of migrant that they attract as well as the type of city that may result.

Suggested Citation

  • Arthur Grimes & Kate Preston & David C Maré & Shaan Badenhorst & Stuart Donovan, 2019. "The Contrasting Importance of Quality of Life and Quality of Business for Domestic and International Migrants," Working Papers 19_06, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:mtu:wpaper:19_06
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    File URL: https://motu-www.motu.org.nz/wpapers/19_06.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrew Coleman & Guanyu Zheng, 2020. "Job-to-job transitions and the regional job ladder," Working Papers 2020/01, New Zealand Productivity Commission.
    2. Arthur Grimes & Shaan Badenhorst & David C. Maré & Jacques Poot, 2020. "Hometown wh?nau or big city millennials? The economic geography of graduate destination choices in New Zealand," Working Papers 20_04, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    migration; amenities; quality of life; quality of business; gravity model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

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