Employment-motivated migration and economic growth in post-industrial market economies

The author reviews the literature on the relationship between migration and economic development in post-industrial market economies. Various models and theories concerned with this relationship are described and evaluated. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between migration and regional development     

The effects of internal migration on regional wage and unemployment disparities in Canada

"This paper examines the role of the migration mechanism in the context of a general interregional factor flow adjustment model. Using an estimation technique, which pools cross-section and time series data, the direct effects of migration flows and regional investment on the growth of regional wages and unemployment [in Canada] are examined. The results suggest that migration has a small, but significant impact on regional wages and unemployment rates."     

A simultaneous equations model of migration and economic change in nonmetropolitan areas

A simultaneous equations model of migration and economic growth in nonmetropolitan regions of the United States is estimated using data for 1960-1970. The dependent variables considered include in-migration, out-migration, growth in employment, and growth in income. The findings indicate that there is a definite link between the patterns of economic and demographic change in nonmetropolitan areas but that it differs in important respects from that which has been observed in metropolitan areas.     

An equilibrium model of gross migration

ABSTRACT The paper presents and tests a new model of migration which differs significantly from the conventional disequilibrium approach. We show that variations in rates of gross migration across regions are equilibrium responses to variations in levels of amenities, governmental policies, etc. The model is tested using data on the gross migration of whites, 1975-80, together with amenities such as climate and with economic variables such as government services, taxes and unionization. Empirical results suggest that the equilibrium model is more consistent with actual migration patterns than is the conventional disequilibrium approach. We estimate compensating differentials and migration elasticities for these variables.     

A dynamic model of regional population growth and decline

"This paper presents a two-sector dynamic model of regional population change. The model contains a migration equation, an earnings equation, and an amenity equation for each region. In the context of this model, migration is seen as a disequilibrium process through which the regional populations move towards equilibrium positions. Migration occurs when one region is perceived to be superior to the other on the basis of its earnings and amenity levels. Equilibrium is achieved when population movements between the regions eliminate any differences in their relative attractiveness. A comparative-static analysis of the model is presented to analyze the effects of policy changes and exogenous shocks on the distribution of population among the regions." The geographical focus is on the United States.     

The service sector,regional specialization,and economic growth in the Victorian economy

During the Victorian period there were substantial regional variations in employment in the service industries. Explanations of economic growth in this period have been dominated by the notion that it was industry-led. If that were so, service growth would be a function of industrial growth. Testing of this thesis by econometric methods suggested that industry provided a poor explanation for variations in services, and that the main explanation was provided by variations in income. This raised other questions, since income per head in the industrial areas was generally much lower than in the less industrialized and service-oriented south of England. There is an abundance of evidence to suggest that this service-oriented regional growth was not derived from industrial development but from international trade and finance together with the consumer spending of a wealthy landed society. There was thus a substantial element of economic and spatial dualism in the Victorian economy. The role of heavy industry in Victorian growth thus needs to be revised considerably downward, and the importance of services and the South East region in particular revised considerably upward. Indeed it is by no means sure that the industrial regions provided the principal stimulus to Victorian growth: the evidence of this study would suggest otherwise.     

An endogenous approach to regional economic development: The emergence of Wales

The article looks at how developments in economic theory have influenced the regional development strategy agenda in Wales. It concentrates in particular on the importance of endogenous aspects of policy in a post‐Fordist context. Such issues as the relevance of networking, learning, foreign direct investment and technology transfer are looked at and applied in the Welsh context. The role of the Welsh Development Agency (WDA) as the principal economic agent is given particular attention. The general conclusion is that the WDA has been working on the right lines in attempting to develop an endogenous offensive approach alongside its obvious past success at attracting inward investment. There is, however, a danger of national trends and political forces favouring the latter over the former.     

Technology transfer agencies and regional economic development

Many regions in Western Europe have set up technology transfer agencies in order to support endogenous potential by encouraging the diffusion of new technologies from universities and large firms to small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). However, many studies have shown that business partners such as customers and suppliers are the most important partners for the stimulation of the innovativeness of SMEs. Universities and transfer agencies are given a very low rank in these studies. These results have led to doubts about the usefulness of these institutions for regional economic development. In order to increase transparency, streamlining of the agencies involved is necessary so that there are fewer actors and more cooperation between them. To be able to reach technology‐following SMEs, at least one transfer organization in every region should employ senior engineers with extensive business experience to visit firms frequently (proactive) to help them come up with some technological issues (demand‐oriented). These agencies need long‐term financial backing so as to provide free advice to technology‐following SMEs.     

Agency and resilience in the time of regional economic crisis

Using a comparative case study on the closure of the research and development facilities of a pharmaceutical company in two regions in Sweden, this paper investigates the emergence of regional economic resilience from an agency perspective. Findings include a networked region engendering agency from non-state actors whilst substantial state intervention is needed to facilitate agency from a less networked region. The paper finds broad confirmation that interactions of actors are due to how a region is organized and the contingencies of its institutional context. Collective agency depends on the ability of actors to align interests and coalesce agendas which, as shown by the two cases, can be based on shared regional affinity as in the case of Södertälje or innovation strategies as in the case of Lund. Regional economic crises bring forth conditions and impetus for temporary modes of cooperation that mobilize resources to launch adaptive resilience strategies. Conflicts in resource distributions or operational complexity make developing agency-based resilience challenging. Emergent regional outcomes from agency-based resilience from these two cases exhibit adaptation with the potential for adaptability in Lund, and adaptability with degrees of adaptation in Södertälje.     

The social selectivity of migration flows affecting Britain's larger conurbations: An analysis of the 1991 census regional migration tables

Little is known about the social composition of migration affecting British cities, despite the currently high political salience of this issue. This is principally because of the very limited availability of reliable city‐scale data on such migrant characteristics as occupation and income. This paper uses the Regional Migration Tables from the 1991 Census to document the migration of labour force members to and from Britain's larger conurbations, distinguishing six main Social Groups defined on the basis of occupation. It is found that all eight areas were net losers of economically active people, that all six Social Groups were generally contributing to these net losses and that, in every case except London, there was a strong positive relationship between social status and the rate of net out‐migration to the rest of Britain. This latter case suggests the need for further work, which would benefit from the more detailed migration datasets that are promised from the 2001 Census.     

Equilibrium and disequilibrium perspectives on regional labor migration

Some alternative models of labor migration in the United States are reviewed, with particular reference to the distinction between equilibrium and disequilibrium models of migration. The authors propose alternative tests to a model developed by Joseph Schacter and Paul G. Althaus "which explicitly recognize the stock-flow interactions between net migration and the distribution of regional population stocks and which make a clean distinction between equilibrium in the temporal and in the market-clearing sense."     

Urban bound migration and rural investment: the case of Mexico

The authors investigate an agriculturally based policy for improving rural incomes and for retarding the rural-urban migration flow. The production of agricultural goods is characterized by a production function in which output increases with increases in agricultural labor inputs, capital, public infrastructure, land, and technology. Differences among regions in agricultural technology will reflect regional differences in education, the institutionalized form of productive organization, and differences in access to technological information channeled through more technically advanced cities. To pick up the effect of out-migration changes in state agricultural labor supply and upon agricultural output, the state's agricultural out-migration rate is included together with the agricultural labor force. The gross migrant flow between 2 locations is hypothesized to depend upon a set of variables influencing the individual's perception of the economic rate of return to be gained by moving, a set of variables reflecting the individual's propensity to relocate, the labor displacement effects of investments, and the at risk population at 1 location available to migrate. It is also taken into account that individuals differ in their response to information about origin and destination wage differentials and that individuals may or may not perceive a new ecnomic gain from migration but may base the decision on other considerations. Results of a statistical analysis using data from the Mexican census of population for 1960 and 1970 are: 1) size of the rural labor force was negatively associated with agricultural wages, contrary to expectations; 2) small farmers have benefited from the expansion of irrigation in Mexico; and 3) higher urban wages attract migration, and higher growth rate of agricultural income retards rural-urban migration. With respect to the 1950-60 decade both agricultural income and rural out-migration impacts could have been substantial but both the impact on local urban growth and on the rate of in-migration to the primate city would have been slight.     

Heterogeneity of birth-state effects on internal migration

Working in a discrete location choice framework, we develop a model of migration that allows the identification of heterogeneity in state-of-birth effects across states. We employ a novel method for using aggregate data to estimate the role of birth state on migration choices. This approach reveals considerable heterogeneity and some regional clustering in birth-state inertia effects across states, with strong attachments in California, the Southwest, and the upper Midwest. The weakest attachments are in the mountain states and New York.     

On the role of amenities in models of migration and regional development

"The role of location-specific amenities in human migration decisions, and subsequently regional development, is explored. A framework is developed which motivates a new assessment of existing alternative models of regional development, indicating the need for additional modeling efforts which focus upon amenities as critical elements in such analyses. The approach hinges upon the notion that amenity values are capitalized into wages, rents, or other local prices. This process of capitalization enables researchers to explore the implicit value that society places upon amenities, which can then be used in assessing future regional-development trends in a more comprehensive manner."     

Firm networks,borders, and regional economic integration

Borders reduce interprovincial trade relative to intraprovincial trade. Using trade and firm ownership microdata over a 9-year period (2004–2012), we show firm ownership networks, like trade flows, diminish with distance and borders and that the estimated effect of provincial borders on trade may fall by almost 75% after accounting for firm networks. This suggests the weaker presence of firm networks across borders has a significant, although statistically imprecise, effect on interprovincial trade. These findings reinforce the view that understanding border effects require not only the identification of barriers to trade but also barriers to investment across borders.     

Crown corporations and co-operatives as coping mechanisms in regional economic development

This paper focuses attention on two types of businesses, Crown corporations and co-operatives, that have long been associated with attempted solutions to regional economic developmental problems in Canada. The paper argues that co-operatives and Crown corporations can be viewed as coping mechanisms that attempt to make up for shortcomings in Canada's market-based economic system. Consistent with this perspective, the case study of co-operatives and Crown corporations finds that, taken as a single group, these firms are more spatially dispersed than their privately held and publicly traded counterparts at both the Canadian national level and the regional level in Saskatchewan. The study also shows that, taken separately, Crown corporations are highly concentrated within Saskatchewan, while co-operatives are dispersed across the province. A possible explanation for this behaviour, warranting further research, is that Crown corporations in Saskatchewan encourage development provincially by linking with global and national business networks in their respective industries, while co-operatives in Saskatchewan largely focus on facilitating economic development opportunities at a local level across the many smaller town- and city-centred regions of the province. The paper discusses the meaning of these and other findings for regional economic development efforts in Saskatchewan and Canada.     

Capital accumulation and regional economic performance: the Australian experience

The accumulation of capital is the driving force of the capitalist economy. Various conditions are necessary for accumulation to proceed and each has important spatial aspects. The paper demonstrates that an analysis of these aspects provides a potentially useful framework for understanding the relationship between regional development and economic growth, with particular reference to the Australian experience. Moreover, it is shown that spatial restructuring plays an important role during periods of economic recession in re-establishing the conditions for further growth. This analysis also illuminates some of the limitations of more conventional regional growth theories and debates on convergence versus divergence in regional economic performance.