Migration and regional labor market adjustment: Chile 1977–1982 and 1987–1992

The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the migration processes that have been occurring in Chile between 1977–1982 and 1987–1992, as a market mechanism to re-allocate labor among regions. Using traditional consumer theory, a model is developed for a migrant who is evaluating migration. Secondly, this model is estimated, with cross section aggregate data, for both periods using a logit formulation. The results indicate that there is a strong force in the Chilean regional labor market, which serves to concentrate the workforce around the largest populated region of the country. Finally, regional labor markets are simulated to show that migration forces are very weak to arbitrage regional wages and unemployment rate and specific policy is required to promote balanced development across Chilean regions. Received: January 1999/Accepted: August 2001     

Learning mobility grants and skill (mis)matching in the labour market: The case of the ‘Master and Back’ Programme

This paper looks at the geographical mobility of graduate students and their skill matching in the labour market. The paper assesses the impact of a learning mobility grant scheme funded by the European Social Fund in Sardinia (ex‐Objective 1 region in the Italian Mezzogiorno). The scheme aims to foster regional human capital and increase the employability of local graduates by covering the cost of post‐graduate studies in other regions or countries. The econometric analysis is based on a unique dataset that combines administrative data on beneficiaries with information from a dedicated survey. The results suggest that learning mobility grants can reinforce skill matching only if the problem of self‐selection of the beneficiaries is properly addressed.     

Marshallian theory of regional agglomeration

Most models of regional agglomeration are based on the new economic geography (NEG) model in which returns to scale are pecuniary. We investigate the implications for regional agglomeration of a 'Marshallian' model in which returns to scale derive from technological externalities. Workers are assumed to have heterogeneous 'home region' preferences. The model is designed to explain how 'second nature' determines regional wage inequality and the regional distribution of economic activity. We show that agglomeration is not a necessary outcome of Marshallian externalities. However, if centrifugal or positive externalities are sufficiently strong relative to their centripetal or negative counterparts, the model generates multiple agglomerating equilibria. These equilibria multiply if, in addition, there are scale economies in amenities. A dynamic version of the model is developed in which external economies and inter-regional labour mobility grow over time. Regional wage inequality overshoots its long run equilibrium and, there is more agglomeration in the long run.     

Interstate migration of college freshmen

We examine the economic determinants of interstate migration of college-bound freshmen, using state-level data. Our analysis provides a robust explanation of the striking differences among the U.S. states in out-migration of college-bound freshmen. States that provide more educational choices and higher quality education services, charge lower tuition, have broad-based merit scholarship programs and have lower income levels tend to retain a higher percentage of their college-bound freshmen at home. We thank Andrew Mason, Sang-Hyop Lee and Rhonda Sharpe and two anonymous referees for helpful comments and suggestions.     

From physical to general spaces: A spatial econometric analysis of cross-country economic growth and institutions

In this paper I extend the use of space as the organizing framework from the physical space to a socio-economic one and, based on an established institutional space, I conduct a cross-country analysis of institutions and economic performance from a spatial econometric perspective. While my results corroborate previous findings on the institutional dimensions of economic development, I am able to provide precise insights as to the spatial dimensions of national per capita GDP growth rates as well as new evidence on the role of spatial effects in the formal econometric analysis of cross-country growth performance. This paper is important in that it represents the first detailed evidence in the two aspects aforementioned. I would like to thank Arthur Getis for his invaluable help throughout my research period. I would also like to thank Tschangho John Kim and anonymous referees for their very constructive critiques and valuable comments on earlier drafts of this article. I do, however, retain responsibility for any remaining errors and misrepresentations. This research is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Received: December 2003/Accepted: April 2004     

Urban spatial pattern as self-organizing system: An empirical evaluation of firm location decisions in Cleveland–Akron PMSA,Ohio

Economic models of urban spatial patterns have largely ignored complexity as an attribute of urban systems. Complexity theorists on the other hand have not made sufficiently serious and sustained attempts to verify empirically the relevance of complex systems models for urban spatial patterns. This research bridges this gap by simulating the evolution of an urban employment pattern as a self-organizing complex system and seeking its empirical validation. It estimates the model’s parameters by using firm data aggregated to the level of municipalities in Cleveland-Akron Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area in Ohio. The interaction among four parameters, forces of attraction and dispersion and their respective rates of dissipation with distance, are modeled as a two-dimensional complex system. The research compares the states of the modeled system with empirical data to present viable methods for verification, calibration and validation of such models.

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Explaining the pattern of regional unemployment: The case of the Midi-Pyrénées region

Unemployment rates vary widely at the sub-regional level. We seek to explain why such variation occurs, using data for 174 districts in the Midi-Pyrénées region of France for 1990–1991. A set of explanatory variables is derived from theory and the voluminous literature. The best model includes a correction for spatially autocorrelated errors. Unemployment rates are higher in urban areas and, where per capita income is higher, are consistent with the view that unemployment differences largely reflect variations in “amenities.” Along with a lack of evidence of housing market rigidities, these suggest that subregional variations in unemployment are not mainly the result of labor market disequilibrium. Received: 9 July 1999 / Accepted: 30 October 2001     

Age articulation of U.S. inter-metropolitan migration flows

A fundamental divide in migration research has existed between aggregate studies of movement among geographic regions and micro studies of individual migrant behavior. Micro-scale studies have highlighted the importance of stage of life-cycle in predicting movement propensities, whereas many aggregate studies have focused on age-aggregated data summed over all origins for in-migration and over all destinations for out-migration. In this paper we show that if data for functional metropolitan-centered regions are employed, and if origin-destination specific streams of movement are analyzed, the age-specific patterns of inter-metropolitan migration within the United States cluster into distinctive patterns of flow representative of key stages of the life-course. In order to expose and portray a rich, age-articulated geography of U.S. migration we aggregate county-to-county migration flow data from the 1990 census for extended metropolitan regions: Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Economic Areas. We calculate destination-specific out-migration rates broken down into 17 age groups for each origin-destination-specific migration stream between pairs of Economic Areas and present the results of a factor analysis of these flow-specific age profiles. We use the factor scores to cluster the very large number of origin-destination-specific age profiles and find that seven characteristic types emerge reflecting key mobility stages of the life course. We analyze the distinctive characteristics of the migration flows in each cluster and based on the prevalence of flows of each type within streams of gross in- and gross out-migration we present a typology of the 172 BEA Economic Areas. Our conclusion is that better understanding the age articulation of origin-destination-specific flow patterns would help advance regional science migration research. Received: January 2001/Accepted: June 2002 Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the 47^th North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International, Chicago, Illinois, USA, November 9–12, 2000 and at the 12^th International Symposium Hosted by the Executive Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Science Conference Organization, Tokyo, Japan, October 1–3, 2000. The authors thank Joseph Persky, Roger Bolton, Hiroyuki Shibusawa, and Roger Stough for helpful suggestions made at those two presentations. The authors gratefully acknowledge the expert computer programming assistance of Lucy M. Carruthers of the Center for Computing and Information Technology of the University of Arizona. We also thank Chris Henrie, Ph.D. student, University of Arizona, for constructing our base map of BEA Economic Areas. Frank Heins would like to thank the National Research Council of Italy (Short-term Mobility Program 1999) for financially supporting a stay at the Department of Geography and Regional Development, University of Arizona. During his stay the groundwork for this research was laid. David Plane would like to acknowledge the support of the Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau for his 2001–2002 academic year visiting research position during which the final analyses and revisions were made.     

Regional convergence in the European Union: From hypothesis to the actual trends

Economic convergence or non-convergence between countries and regions continues to attract analytical attention in Europe. To converge in real terms and not only in terms of nominal variables is one of the basic aims of the European Union Treaty. A first objective of this paper is to offer an overview on what is actually happening in the European Union in contrast to some generally accepted hypotheses and models predicting regional convergence. Empirical evidence shows that after a period of (relative) regional convergence in GDP per capita as well in terms of labour productivity, this process has almost completely ended. Possible explanations go from the most pro-convergence theories (optimists) to those that outweigh real obstacles to theoretical assumptions (pessimists). As a second objective the paper examines two important facts that can contribute to explaining the actual trends. The first is named the `national effect', where regions of each country have economic behaviour strongly linked to the national economy as a whole. The second is the `differential' behaviour of many European regions in terms of economic outcomes.  Some suggestions and conclusions are drawn from the facts and the trends observed in the European integration process. Received: May 2000/Accepted: December 2000     

Social networks and regional recruitment of foreign labour: Firm recruitment methods and spatial sorting in Denmark*

This paper tests the hypothesis that social networks are crucial for regional recruitment and inflows of foreign labour. New survey data on 971 firms located in Region Southern Denmark show that the predominant recruitment method of foreign labour was through networks. Danish municipal data from 1997–2006 furthermore reveal spatial sorting since initial shares of employees with a foreign background out of total regional employment predict foreign labour inflow rates to regional employment. Thus, social networks appear crucial for the recruitment and inflows of foreign labour, suggesting that employee referrals and information about vacancies in local job markets are also important for foreign labour. Resumen Este artículo pone a prueba la hipótesis de que las redes sociales son cruciales para la contratación regional y los flujos de mano de obra extranjera. Nuevos datos de una encuesta sobre 971 empresas ubicadas en la Región de Dinamarca Meridional muestran que el método de contratación predominante de mano de obra extranjera fue a través de redes. Datos municipales daneses de 1997‐2006 revelan además una clasificación espacial, ya que las cuotas iniciales de empleados de origen extranjero respecto del empleo regional total predicen tasas de afluencia de mano de obra extranjera para el empleo regional. Por tanto, las redes sociales parecen ser cruciales para el reclutamiento y la afluencia de mano de obra extranjera, lo cual sugiere que las referencias de los empleados y la información sobre ofertas de empleo en los mercados laborales locales son también importantes para la mano de obra extranjera.      

Public policy,locational choice and the innovation capability of high-tech firms: A comparison between Israel and Ireland

Using survey data from Irish and Israeli firms we examine the influence of public policy on the characteristics, location and innovation capability of high-tech firms. The innovation activities of Israeli firms in Israel are found to be much more locationally sensitive than that of Irish companies. Regional policy incentives, involving the dispersal of high-tech firms to peripheral areas of Ireland are therefore likely to have had little negative effect on firms' innovation capabilities. In Israel, however, inducing highly R&D intensive firms to locate away from the main metropolitan areas may be counter-productive. Received: 28 November 2000 / Accepted: 26 September 2002     

RHOMOLO: A dynamic spatial general equilibrium model for assessing the impact of cohesion policy

The paper presents the newly developed dynamic spatial general equilibrium model of European Commission, RHOMOLO, and proposes its future extensions. The model incorporates several elements from economic geography in a novel and theoretically consistent way. It describes the location choice of different types of agents and captures the interplay between agglomeration and dispersion forces in determining the spatial equilibrium. The model is also dynamic as it allows for the accumulation of factors of production, human capital and technology. This makes RHOMOLO particularly suited for simulating policy scenario related to the EU cohesion policy and for the analysis of its impact on the regions and the Member States of the union.     

Voting with your feet in the United Kingdom: Using cross-migration rates to estimate relative living standards

This article reexamines and extends the literature on the use of migration rates to estimate compensating differentials as measures of regional quality of life. I estimate an interregional migration regression for the UK and use the results to measure regional quality of life and standard of living. The results suggest a North-South divide within England, and that Scotland and Wales have relatively high levels of both. The results also lead to a rejection of regional standard-of-living e quivalence (long-run regional equilibrium) in the UK. Received: August 1998 / Accepted: January 2000     

Independent and linked migration: Individual return of employment opportunity and household return of poverty status to African American interstate migration

The thrust of this study is to describe and contrast the determinants and outcomes of African-American interstate migration. We examine two types of migration outcomes – individual return to employment probability and household level return to poverty status. We investigate these motivations and outcomes based on a new typology of migration through the lens of household change that accompanies migration. We specify a pairwise two-stage probit model incorporating individual and state-level variables using Public Use Micro Sample data and various ecological data in the US. We show that independent migrants move to other states envisioning economic models of migration with migration as a derived response to opportunities, pressures, and constraints imposed by spatial inequalities in socioeconomic development. On the other hand, we demonstrate that linked migrants move to other states also for their economic need, but via kinship. In this case, the linked migrants' path does not follow the general pattern of economic circumstances. We show that household composition is an important factor that influences the destination choice for African Americans. While independent migrants are more concerned with diverse economic conditions at destinations, kinship, other ties and household structure at destinations are more significant factors for linked migrants. Received: June 2000/Accepted: June 2001     

On the measurement of regional inequality: does spatial dimension of income inequality matter?

The paper concerns selected theoretical and empirical aspects of the decomposition of income inequality by spatially defined subgroups. Special consideration is given to the implications for measurement and comparison of regional inequality. The decomposition by the Theil coefficient is applied at global and European levels including estimates of historical development. Additionally, the empirical evidence on the decomposition of inequality in a number of countries is reviewed, regional inequality for 46 countries is estimated, and a simple method of cross-country classification according to relative importance of spatial dimension of inequality is provided.     

The insufficiency of Pigouvian taxes in a spatial general equilibrium model

The paper considers, in a spatial general equilibrium setting, the pollution externality problem caused by a competitive industry. It is shown that the pollution control instrument supporting the optimum is a two-part Pigouvian tax–emission rights scheme in which the polluter pays only for the emissions which exceed its initial emission rights. The optimal level of the emission rights depends on the nature of pollution. In the global pollution case they are zero, whereas in the local pollution case they are equal to the firm's emissions at the optimum. In general, the optimal initial emission rights are between these values, but they may also be negative. In the latter case the firm pays for a greater amount of emissions than it emits. The emission tax proceeds, if there are any, must be distributed to the victims (households) as compensation. Received: December 1998/Accepted: May 2000     

The general urban model: Retrospect and prospect

The general urban model is viewed in brief retrospectively, mainly emphasizing the transition for the monocentric 'classical' elements of such a model to the multicentric. The emphasis of the paper, however, is on future prospects. It is argued that it could be developed as the basis of a model-based 'big picture' of urban development through five layers of disaggregation – from the global to the local. There are many opportunities for submodel development but the main future challenge is the modelling of urban and regional evolution. Progress in modelling urban and regional systems as complex nonlinear systems with particular reference to path dependence and phase transitions is reviewed. The idea of urban and regional 'DNA' is introduced which leads to a 'genetic medicine' view of aspects of planning.     

Creative clustering: The location of independent inventors

There is a growing body of regional research on the location of creative and talented workers. This paper offers a new perspective by examining independent inventors. Based on a comprehensive inventor database for 2000–2009, we detect a striking orientation toward the western regions of the United States. In a negative binomial regression analysis, the effects of natural and cultural amenities, the research milieu, human capital, local per capita income, industrial diversity, tolerance, and other factors are tested against the US county-level distribution of independent inventors. Statistically significant estimates are found for natural amenities, human capital, research universities and county population. Of all variables, independent inventor location exhibits the highest elasticity with respect to per capita income. This factor has often been overlooked in research on the creative economy.     

Regional labor markets in Finland: Adjustment to total versus region-specific shocks

This article analyses regional labor market adjustment in the Finnish provinces during 1976–2000. We investigate the inter-relations of employment, unemployment, labor force participation, and migration to see how a change in region-specific and total labor demand is adjusted. The analysis reveals that region-specific labor demand shocks adjust mainly via participation, whereas total shocks are adjusted by unemployment. The region-specific component of labor demand shock has shorter-lived effects on unemployment and participation, but its effect on employment is permanent. Conversely, total shocks leave no permanent effect. Migration is more important in the region-specific case where, after a few years, it acquires a large role in the adjustment process.