IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/car/carecp/01-08.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Policy-induced Migration in Canada: An Empirical Study

Author

Abstract

We investigate the influence of public policy on interregional migration in Canada using new interprovincial migration data constructed from personal income tax files for the years 1974 to 1996. We consider the consequences for gross and net migration flows of regional variation in employment insurance, provincial social assistance, personal income taxes and public spending of different types, and we compare the effects of these policies to the impacts on migration of wages, employment prospects and moving costs. We also conduct a preliminary investigation of the migration consequences of certain extraordinary political events in Quebec and of the closing of the cod fishery in Newfoundland. Unemployment insurance is an especially important and well documented source of income for many people, and regional variation in the generosity of the insurance system over the last three decades has been substantial. The results suggest that while increasing the generosity of the system in high unemployment regions may have induced more migration to the Atlantic region than would otherwise have occurred, the resulting changes in gross flows are probably not large and have had, at most, small effects on average provincial unemployment rates. A variety of other interesting results is also provided.

Suggested Citation

  • Kathleen M. Day & Stanley L. Winer, 2001. "Policy-induced Migration in Canada: An Empirical Study," Carleton Economic Papers 01-08, Carleton University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:car:carecp:01-08
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.carleton.ca/economics/wp-content/uploads/cep01-08.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lin, Zhengxi, 1998. "Employment Insurance in Canada: Recent Trends and Policy Changes," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 1998125e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    2. Robin W. Boadway & Frank R. Flatters, 1982. "Efficiency and Equalization Payments in a Federal System of Government: A Synthesis and Extension of Recent Results," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 15(4), pages 613-633, November.
    3. Finnie, Ross, 2000. "Who Moves? A Panel Logit Model Analysis of Inter-provincial Migration in Canada," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2000142e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    4. Thomas J. Courchene, 1970. "Interprovincial Migration and Economic Adjustment," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 3(4), pages 550-576, November.
    5. Winer, Stanley L, 1983. "Some Evidence on the Effect of the Separation of Spending and Taxing Decisions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(1), pages 126-140, February.
    6. Phipps, Shelley, 1990. "Quantity-Constrainted Household Responses to UI Reform," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 100(399), pages 124-140, March.
    7. Shaw, R Paul, 1986. "Fiscal versus Traditional Market Variables in Canadian Migration," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages 648-666, June.
    8. William G. Watson, 1986. "An Estimate of the Welfare Gain from Fiscal Equalization," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 19(2), pages 298-308, May.
    9. Robin Boadway & Frank Flatters, 1981. "The Role of Equalization Payments in a Federal System of Government, A Synthesis and Extension of Recent Results," Working Paper 443, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    10. Kathleen M. Day, 1992. "Interprovincial Migration and Local Public Goods," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 25(1), pages 123-144, February.
    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. Mark Ferguson & Kamar Ali & M. Rose Olfert & Mark Partridge, 2007. "Voting with Their Feet: Jobs versus Amenities," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 77-110, March.
    2. Giorgio Brosio & Juan Pablo Jiménez, 2012. "The intergovernmental allocation of revenue from natural resources: finding a balance between centripetal and centrifugal pressure," Chapters, in: Giorgio Brosio & Juan P. Jiménez (ed.), Decentralization and Reform in Latin America, chapter 10, pages iii-iii, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Benoît Tarroux, 2012. "Are equalization payments making Canadians better off? A two-dimensional dominance answer," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 10(1), pages 19-44, March.
    4. Grenier, Gilles, 2008. "The internal migration of the immigrant and native-born populations in Canada between 1976 and 1996," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 736-756, April.
    5. Kari Hämäläinen & Petri Böckerman, 2004. "Regional Labor Market Dynamics, Housing, and Migration," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 543-568, August.
    6. Michael Benarroch & Hugh Grant, 2004. "The interprovincial migration of Canadian physicians: does income matter?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(20), pages 2335-2345.
    7. Böckerman, Petri & Hämäläinen, Kari, 2002. "Housing, dynamics of regional labour markets and migration," ERSA conference papers ersa02p159, European Regional Science Association.

    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. Kathleen Day & Stanley Winer, 2006. "Policy-induced internal migration: An empirical investigation of the Canadian case," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 13(5), pages 535-564, September.
    2. Samira Bakhshi & Mohammad Shakeri & M. Rose Olfert & Mark D. Partridge & Simon Weseen, 2009. "Do Local Residents Value Federal Transfers?," Public Finance Review, , vol. 37(3), pages 235-268, May.
    3. M. Rose Olfert, 2016. "Regional Inequality and Decentralized Governance: Canada's Provinces," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 46(3), pages 201-222, Winter.
    4. Robin Boadway & Katherine Cuff, 2017. "The impressive contribution of Canadian economists to fiscal federalism theory and policy," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(5), pages 1348-1380, December.
    5. Benoît Tarroux, 2012. "Are equalization payments making Canadians better off? A two-dimensional dominance answer," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 10(1), pages 19-44, March.
    6. Mark Ferguson & Kamar Ali & M. Rose Olfert & Mark Partridge, 2007. "Voting with Their Feet: Jobs versus Amenities," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 77-110, March.
    7. Albouy, David, 2012. "Evaluating the efficiency and equity of federal fiscal equalization," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(9-10), pages 824-839.
    8. Finnie, Ross, 2001. "The Effects of Inter-provincial Mobility on Individuals' Earnings: Panel Model Estimates for Canada," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2001163e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    9. Kessler, Anke & Lessmann, Christian, 2010. "Interregional Redistribution and Regional Disparities: How Equalization Does (Not) Work," CEPR Discussion Papers 8133, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Mark Partridge & M. Rose Olfert & Alessandro Alasia, 2007. "Canadian cities as regional engines of growth: agglomeration and amenities," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 40(1), pages 39-68, February.
    11. Inman, Robert P. & Rubinfeld, Daniel L., 1996. "Designing tax policy in federalist economies: An overview," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(3), pages 307-334, June.
    12. Basher, Syed A. & Fachin, Stefano, 2008. "The long-term decline of internal migration in Canada – Ontario as a case study," MPRA Paper 6685, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Socrates Karidis & Michael A. Quinn, 2006. "Fiscal harmonization and migration in the European Union," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 49(4), pages 333-352.
    14. Trevor Tombe & Jennifer Winter, 2021. "Fiscal integration with internal trade: Quantifying the effects of federal transfers in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(2), pages 522-556, May.
    15. Serge Coulombe, 2006. "Internal Migration, Asymmetric Shocks, and Interprovincial Economic Adjustments in Canada," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 29(2), pages 199-223, April.
    16. Kjetil Anderson & Fredrik Cerlsen, 1997. "Local Public Services and Migration: Educational Change Evidence from Norwegian Municipalities," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 27(2), pages 123-142, Fall.
    17. L. S. Wilson, 2003. "Equalization, Efficiency and Migration: Watson Revisited," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 29(4), pages 385-395, December.
    18. Trevor Tombe, "undated". "Final, Unalterable (and Up for Negotiation): Federal-Provincial Transfers in Canada," Working Papers 2018-13, Department of Economics, University of Calgary, revised 22 Oct 2018.
    19. Weingast, Barry R., 2009. "Second generation fiscal federalism: The implications of fiscal incentives," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 279-293, May.
    20. Robin Boadway, 2001. "Financing Confederation Revisited: The Economic State of the Federation," The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater, in: Patrick Grady & Andrew Sharpe (ed.),The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater, pages 37-56, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    migration; regional disparity; public policy; unemployment insurance; conditional logit; taxation data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H0 - Public Economics - - General
    • H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings
    • 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

    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:car:carecp:01-08. 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: Court Lindsay (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.