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Breaking Out of Poverty Traps: Internal Migration and Interregional Convergence in Russia

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  • Sergei Guriev

    (Département d'économie)

  • Elena Vakulenko

    (Higher School of Economics (HSE))

Abstract

We study barriers to labor mobility using panel data on gross region-to-region migration flows in Russia in 1996–2010. Using both parametric and semiparametric methods and controlling for region-to-region pairwise fixed effects, we find a non-monotonic relationship between income and migration. In richer regions, higher incomes result in lower migration outflows. However, in the poorest regions, an increase in incomes results in higher emigration. This is consistent with the presence of geographical poverty traps: potential migrants want to leave the poor regions but cannot afford to move. We also show that economic growth and financial development have allowed most Russian regions to grow out of poverty traps bringing down interregional differentials of wages, incomes and unemployment rates.

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  • Sergei Guriev & Elena Vakulenko, 2015. "Breaking Out of Poverty Traps: Internal Migration and Interregional Convergence in Russia," Sciences Po publications info:hdl:2441/29rpk7q0oq9, Sciences Po.
    • Handle: RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/29rpk7q0oq98a9ckfivpgfdvo0
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    Cited by:

    1. Ekaterina Aleksandrova & Kristian Behrens & Maria Kuznetsova, 2018. "Manufacturing (Co)Agglomeration in a Transition Country: Evidence from Russia," HSE Working papers WP BRP 186/EC/2018, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    2. Vakulenko, Elena, 2019. "Motives for internal migration in Russia: what has changed in recent years?," Applied Econometrics, Publishing House "SINERGIA PRESS", vol. 55, pages 113-138.
    3. Sascha Sardadvar & Elena Vakulenko, 2016. "Interregional Migration Within Russia And Its East-West Divide: Evidence From Spatial Panel Regressions," Review of Urban & Regional Development Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 123-141, July.
    4. World Bank Group, 2016. "Russian Economic Report, No. 35, April 2016," World Bank Other Operational Studies 24028, The World Bank.
    5. Anderson, Kym & Strutt, Anna, 2014. "Food security policy options for China: Lessons from other countries," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(P1), pages 50-58.
    6. Jang, Youngook, 2018. "The road home: the role of ethnicity in the post-Soviet migration," Economic History Working Papers 90574, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    7. Calvo,Paula Andrea & Lopez-Calva,Luis-Felipe & Posadas,Josefina, 2015. "A decade of declining earnings inequality in the Russian Federation," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7392, The World Bank.
    8. Francesconi, Marco & Slonimczyk, Fabian & Yurko, Anna, 2017. "Moving On Up for High School Graduates in Russia: The Consequences of the Uni ed State Exam Reform," CEPR Discussion Papers 11996, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Elena Vakulenko, 2016. "Does migration lead to regional convergence in Russia?," International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(1), pages 1-25.
    10. Giltman, M., 2017. "Employment in the North of Russia: Microdata Analysis," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 35(3), pages 103-124.
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    12. Sergey Kapelyuk, 2015. "The effect of minimum wage on poverty," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 23(2), pages 389-423, April.
    13. repec:eee:rujoec:v:3:y:2017:i:4:p:411-424 is not listed on IDEAS
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    15. Francesconi, Marco & Slonimczyk, Fabián & Yurko, Anna, 2019. "Democratizing access to higher education in Russia: The consequences of the unified state exam reform," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 56-82.
    16. Antosik, Liubov & Ivashina, Natalya, 2019. "Modeling of spatial dependence in the migration flows of graduates of the higher education institutions of the Russian Federation," Applied Econometrics, Publishing House "SINERGIA PRESS", vol. 54, pages 70-89.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor mobility; Poverty traps; Liquidity constraints;

    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

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