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Moving home again? Never! The locational choices of graduates in Sweden

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  • Lina Bjerke

    (Jönköping International Business School)

  • Charlotta Mellander

    (Jönköping International Business School)

Abstract

Two major challenges in Europe’s rural areas are an aging population and the diminishing share of human capital. While this pattern has been occurring for a long time, the effects are becoming acutely visible and impactful. The long-term loss of younger individuals has in many ways “drained” the labor market and the economic market power of rural areas. This is the context of our research: the locational choice of university graduates from an urban–rural perspective. Using micro data covering the entire Swedish population, we identify all university graduates from the year 2001. We analyze them with respect to whether they live in a rural or urban region before starting university and where they live after graduation at two points in time: 5 and 10 years. We use a series of multinomial logit regressions to determine what factors affect their short-term and long-term choices of location. We find that having children is one of the most influential factors for moving back home after graduation, irrespective of type of region. We find only minor differences between the two time perspectives.

Suggested Citation

  • Lina Bjerke & Charlotta Mellander, 2017. "Moving home again? Never! The locational choices of graduates in Sweden," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(3), pages 707-729, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:anresc:v:59:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s00168-016-0777-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s00168-016-0777-2
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    2. Vuuren, Aico van, 2018. "City structure and the location of young college graduates," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 1-15.
    3. Nyström, Kristina, 2020. "Recruitment of scarce competences to rural regions: Policies to promote recruitment," Ratio Working Papers 341, The Ratio Institute.
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    5. Jeworrek, Sabrina & Brachert, Matthias, 2022. "Where to go? High-skilled individuals' regional preferences," IWH Discussion Papers 27/2022, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    6. Kristina Nyström, 2021. "Recruitment of scarce competences to rural regions: Policy perspectives," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 41(2), pages 211-227, October.
    7. van Vuuren, Aico, 2022. "Is There a Diminishing Value of Urban Amenities as a Result of the COVID-19 Pandemic?," IZA Discussion Papers 15025, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. van Vuuren, Aico, 2023. "Is there a diminishing willingness to pay for consumption amenities as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    9. van Vuuren, Aico, 2022. "Is there a diminishing value of urban amenities as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic?," Working Papers in Economics 818, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    10. Arthur Grimes & Shaan Badenhorst & David C. Maré & Jacques Poot & Isabelle Sin, 2023. "Quality of life, quality of business, and destinations of recent graduates: fields of study matter," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 70(1), pages 55-80, February.
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    JEL classification:

    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General

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