IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/anresc/v70y2023i1d10.1007_s00168-022-01117-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Quality of life, quality of business, and destinations of recent graduates: fields of study matter

Author

Listed:
  • Arthur Grimes

    (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research
    Victoria University of Wellington)

  • Shaan Badenhorst

    (Social Wellbeing Agency)

  • David C. Maré

    (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research)

  • Jacques Poot

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
    University of Waikato)

  • Isabelle Sin

    (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research)

Abstract

One of the main challenges facing non-metropolitan regions is the attraction and retention of highly-educated young people. A loss of the brightest can lead to reduced business creation, innovation, growth and community well-being in such regions. We use rich longitudinal microdata from New Zealand to analyse the determinants and geography of the choice of destination of recent university and polytechnic graduates 2 years and 4 years after graduation. Rather than considering a range of location-specific consumption and production amenities, we assume spatial equilibrium and calculate, following Chen and Rosenthal (J Urban Econ 64:519–537, 2008), ‘quality of life’ and ‘quality of business’ indicators for urban areas that encompass all amenities that are utility and/or productivity enhancing (or reducing, in the case of disamenities). Specifically, we test whether students locate in places that are regarded as good to live or good to do business; and how this differs by field of study. Our estimates are conditional on students’ prior school (home) location and the location of their higher education institution. We find that graduates are attracted to locate in urban places that have high quality production amenities. High quality consumption amenities have heterogeneous effects on the location choice of students. Creative arts and commerce graduates are relatively more likely to locate in places that are attractive to business, consistent with a symbiosis between bohemians and business. Decision makers can leverage their existing local strengths, in terms of production and/or consumption amenities, to act as drawcards for, or to retain, recent graduates in specific fields.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:anresc:v:70:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s00168-022-01117-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s00168-022-01117-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00168-022-01117-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00168-022-01117-x?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maré, David C. & Graham, Daniel J., 2013. "Agglomeration elasticities and firm heterogeneity," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 44-56.
    2. Poot, Jacques & Alimi, Omoniyi & Cameron, Michael P. & Maré, David C., 2016. "The gravity model of migration: the successful comeback of an ageing superstar in regional science," INVESTIGACIONES REGIONALES - Journal of REGIONAL RESEARCH, Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional, issue 36, pages 63-86.
    3. Philip Morrison, 2011. "Local Expressions of Subjective Well-being: The New Zealand Experience," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(8), pages 1039-1058.
    4. Ye Liu & Jianfa Shen & Wei Xu & Guixin Wang, 2017. "From school to university to work: migration of highly educated youths in China," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(3), pages 651-676, November.
    5. Bozena Wielgoszewska, 2018. "Onwards and upwards? Migration and social mobility of the UK graduates," Regional Studies, Regional Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 402-411, January.
    6. Petri Böckerman & Mika Haapanen, 2013. "The effect of polytechnic reform on migration," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 26(2), pages 593-617, April.
    7. 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.
    8. Lina Ahlin & Martin Andersson & Per Thulin, 2014. "Market Thickness and the Early Labour Market Career of University Graduates: An Urban Advantage?," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(4), pages 396-419, October.
    9. Dora L. Costa & Matthew E. Kahn, 2000. "Power Couples: Changes in the Locational Choice of the College Educated, 1940–1990," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(4), pages 1287-1315.
    10. Dahl, Michael S. & Sorenson, Olav, 2010. "The migration of technical workers," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 33-45, January.
    11. W. Mark Brown & Darren M. Scott, 2012. "Human Capital Location Choice: Accounting For Amenities And Thick Labor Markets," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(5), pages 787-808, December.
    12. Arthur Grimes & Sean Hyland, 2015. "Housing Markets And The Global Financial Crisis: The Complex Dynamics Of A Credit Shock," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 33(2), pages 315-333, April.
    13. Maria Abreu & Sierdjan Koster & Viktor A. Venhorst, 2014. "Transitions and Location Choice: Analysing the Decisions of Students and Recent Graduates," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(4), pages 349-354, October.
    14. Roback, Jennifer, 1982. "Wages, Rents, and the Quality of Life," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(6), pages 1257-1278, December.
    15. Roback, Jennifer, 1988. "Wages, Rents, and Amenities: Differences among Workers and Regions," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 26(1), pages 23-41, January.
    16. Elisabetta Marinelli, 2013. "Sub-national Graduate Mobility and Knowledge Flows: An Exploratory Analysis of Onward- and Return-Migrants in Italy," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(10), pages 1618-1633, November.
    17. Sharon Walsh & John Cullinan & Darragh Flannery, 2019. "Exploring heterogeneity in willingness to pay for the attributes of higher education institutions," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 71(1), pages 203-224.
    18. Haifeng Qian & Zoltán J. Ács & Roger R. Stough, 2015. "Regional systems of entrepreneurship: the nexus of human capital, knowledge and new firm formation," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 14, pages 257-285, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Lina Ahlin & Martin Andersson & Per Thulin, 2018. "Human capital sorting: The “when” and “who” of the sorting of educated workers to urban regions," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(3), pages 581-610, June.
    20. Arthur Grimes & Judd Ormsby & Kate Preston, 2017. "Wages, Wellbeing and Location: Slaving Away in Sydney or Cruising on the Gold Coast," Working Papers 17_07, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    21. Tina Haussen & Silke Uebelmesser, 2018. "Job changes and interregional migration of graduates," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(10), pages 1346-1359, October.
    22. Stuart A. Gabriel & Stuart S. Rosenthal, 2004. "Quality of the Business Environment Versus Quality of Life: Do Firms and Households Like the Same Cities?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 438-444, February.
    23. Christian Teichert & Annekatrin Niebuhr & Anne Otto & Anja Rossen, 2020. "Work experience and graduate migration: an event history analysis of German data," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(10), pages 1413-1424, October.
    24. Alessandra Faggian & Stephen Sheppard & Philip Mccann, 2006. "An Analysis of Gender Differences in UK Graduate Migration Behaviour," ERSA conference papers ersa06p16, European Regional Science Association.
    25. Jean-Christophe Dumont & Georges Lemaître, 2005. "Counting Immigrants and Expatriates in OECD Countries: A New Perspective," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 25, OECD Publishing.
    26. Riccardo Crescenzi & Nancy Holman & Enrico Orru’, 2017. "Why do they return? Beyond the economic drivers of graduate return migration," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(3), pages 603-627, November.
    27. Alessandra Faggian & Philip Mccann, 2009. "Universities, Agglomerations And Graduate Human Capital Mobility," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 100(2), pages 210-223, April.
    28. Alessandra Faggian & Philip McCann & Stephen Sheppard, 2006. "An analysis of ethnic differences in UK graduate migration behaviour," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 40(2), pages 461-471, June.
    29. Antonella D’Agostino & Giulio Ghellini & Sergio Longobardi, 2019. "Out-migration of university enrolment: the mobility behaviour of Italian students," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 40(1), pages 56-72, January.
    30. 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.
    31. Viktor A. Venhorst, 2013. "Graduate Migration and Regional Familiarity," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 104(1), pages 109-119, February.
    32. Niels Kooiman & Jan Latten & Marco Bontje, 2018. "Human Capital Migration: A Longitudinal Perspective," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 109(5), pages 644-660, December.
    33. Alessandra Faggian & Jonathan Corcoran & Francisco Rowe, 2017. "Special issue on youth and graduate migration," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(3), pages 571-575, November.
    34. Chen, Yong & Rosenthal, Stuart S., 2008. "Local amenities and life-cycle migration: Do people move for jobs or fun?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 519-537, November.
    35. Kathryn R. Dotzel, 2017. "Do natural amenities influence undergraduate student migration decisions?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(3), pages 677-705, November.
    36. Daniel McFadden & Kenneth Train, 2000. "Mixed MNL models for discrete response," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(5), pages 447-470.
    37. Eyal Apatov & Arthur Grimes, 2019. "Impacts of Higher Education Institutions on Local Population and Employment Growth," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 42(1), pages 31-64, January.
    38. Jonathan Corcoran & Alessandra Faggian & Philip Mccann, 2010. "Human Capital in Remote and Rural Australia: The Role of Graduate Migration," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 192-220, June.
    39. Mika Haapanen & Hannu Tervo, 2012. "Migration Of The Highly Educated: Evidence From Residence Spells Of University Graduates," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(4), pages 587-605, October.
    40. Kang-Rae Ma & Eun-Taek Kang & O-Kyu Kwon, 2017. "Migration behavior of students and graduates under prevailing regional dualism: the case of South Korea," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 58(1), pages 209-233, January.
    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. Qiang Wang & Can Cui & Chengyuan Yu & Yifan Wang, 2023. "From Domicile to University to Work: The Sequential Migration of Young Educated People in the Context of the “Battle for Talent” in China," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(6), pages 1-26, December.

    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. 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.
    2. John V. Winters, 2017. "Do earnings by college major affect graduate migration?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(3), pages 629-649, November.
    3. repec:elg:eechap:14395_22 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Winters, John V., 2014. "The Production and Stock of College Graduates for U.S. States," IZA Discussion Papers 8730, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Hyun-kyung Lee & Hong-bae Kim, 2019. "Regional preferences for the living environment and mobility of researchers and general workers: the case of Korea," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 62(1), pages 169-186, February.
    6. Stuart Donovan & Arthur Grimes & David C. Maré, 2020. "Modelling urban development in New Zealand," Working Papers 20_07, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    7. Alessandra Faggian & M. Rose Olfert & Mark D. Partridge, 2011. "Inferring regional well-being from individual revealed preferences: the 'voting with your feet' approach," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 5(1), pages 163-180.
    8. Moritz Meister & Annekatrin Niebuhr & Jan Cornelius Peters & Johannes Stiller, 2023. "Local attributes and migration balance – evidence for different age and skill groups from a machine learning approach," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(4), pages 794-825, May.
    9. David L. Sjoquist & John V. Winters, 2015. "State Merit-Based Financial Aid Programs And College Attainment," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 364-390, June.
    10. Moskvina, Victoria, 2019. "Modelling interregional mobility of university graduates in Russia," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 56, pages 99-122.
    11. Adalgiso Amendola & Cristian Barra & Roberto Zotti, 2020. "Does graduate human capital production increase local economic development? An instrumental variable approach," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(5), pages 959-994, November.
    12. Qiang Wang & Can Cui & Chengyuan Yu & Yifan Wang, 2023. "From Domicile to University to Work: The Sequential Migration of Young Educated People in the Context of the “Battle for Talent” in China," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(6), pages 1-26, December.
    13. Su, Yaqin & Hua, Yue & Deng, Lanfang, 2021. "Agglomeration of human capital: Evidence from city choice of online job seekers in China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    14. Pantelis Kazakis & Alessandra Faggian, 2017. "Mobility, education and labor market outcomes for U.S. graduates: Is selectivity important?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(3), pages 731-758, November.
    15. David Albouy & Fernando Leibovici & Casey Warman, 2013. "Quality of life, firm productivity, and the value of amenities across Canadian cities," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 46(2), pages 379-411, May.
    16. Bieri, David S. & Kuminoff, Nicolai V. & Pope, Jaren C., 2023. "National expenditures on local amenities," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    17. Fredrik Carlsen & Stefan Leknes, 2022. "For whom are cities good places to live?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(12), pages 2177-2190, December.
    18. Yan Song & Jiang Zhou & Yingjie Zhang & Dingxin Wu & Honghai Xu, 2022. "How Much Are Amenities Worth? An Empirical Study on Urban Land and Housing Price Differentials across Chinese Cities," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-16, June.
    19. Shi, Tie & Zhu, Wenzhang & Fu, Shihe, 2021. "Quality of life in Chinese cities," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    20. Heather M. Stephens & Mark D. Partridge, 2015. "Lake Amenities, Environmental Degradation, and Great Lakes Regional Growth," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 38(1), pages 61-91, January.
    21. Fredrik Carlsen & Stefan Leknes, 2019. "The paradox of the unhappy, growing city: reconciling evidence," Discussion Papers 907, Statistics Norway, Research Department.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • 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
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    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:spr:anresc:v:70:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s00168-022-01117-x. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.