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Migration and the Tiebout‐Tullock Hypothesis Revisited

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  • Richard J. Cebula

Abstract

This study investigates, using state‐level data for the period 2000–2005, the Tiebout hypothesis (as extended by Tullock) of “voting with one's feet.” This analysis differs from previous related studies not only in its adoption of more current migration and other data but also in other ways. First, unlike most earlier related studies, it includes a separate measure of the overall cost of living; second, it examines per pupil (rather than per capita) outlays on public primary and secondary education; and third, in addition to property taxes, it also focuses on per capita state income tax burdens. Inclusion of the last of these variables in the analysis is based on studies that have found the existence of a state income tax to have influenced migration patterns and other studies that have found higher state income tax levels to have resulted in reduced per capita income growth over time. Moreover, including both property tax burdens and income tax burdens broadens the scope of the hypothesis. Strong empirical support for the Tiebout‐Tullock hypothesis (as interpreted here) is obtained for the study period.

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  • Richard J. Cebula, 2009. "Migration and the Tiebout‐Tullock Hypothesis Revisited," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 541-551, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:68:y:2009:i:2:p:541-551
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1536-7150.2009.00638.x
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    1. Charles M. Tiebout, 1956. "A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(5), pages 416-416.
    2. Cebula, Richard J. & Alexander, Gigi M., 2006. "Determinants of Net Interstate Migration, 2000-2004," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 36(2), pages 1-8.
    3. Lowell E. Gallaway & Richard J. Cebula, 1973. "Differentials and Indeterminacy in Wage Rate Analysis: An Empirical Note," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 26(3), pages 991-995, April.
    4. Mark D. Partridge & Dan S. Rickman, 2006. "An SVAR Model of Fluctuations in U.S. Migration Flows and State Labor Market Dynamics," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 72(4), pages 958-980, April.
    5. Stephen M. Renas, 1980. "An Empirical Note on the Tiebout-Tullock Hypothesis: Comment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 94(3), pages 619-623.
    6. Richard J. Cebula & Willie J. Belton, 1994. "Voting with One's Feet," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 273-280, July.
    7. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    8. Larry A. Sjaastad, 1970. "The Costs and Returns of Human Migration," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Harry W. Richardson (ed.), Regional Economics, chapter 9, pages 115-133, Palgrave Macmillan.
    9. Richard J. Cebula, 1978. "An Empirical Note on the Tiebout-Tullock Hypothesis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 92(4), pages 705-711.
    10. Leonard Carlson & Richard Cebula, 1981. "Voting with one's feet: A brief note on the case of public welfare and the American Indian," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 321-325, January.
    11. Richard J. Cebula, 2009. "Migration and the Tiebout‐Tullock Hypothesis Revisited," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 541-551, April.
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    15. Paul S. Davies & Michael J. Greenwood & Haizheng Li, 2001. "A Conditional Logit Approach to U.S. State‐to‐State Migration," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 337-360, May.
    16. Lewis R. Gale & Will Carrington Heath, 2000. "Elderly Internal Migration in the United States Revisited," Public Finance Review, , vol. 28(2), pages 153-170, March.
    17. Jim Millington, 2000. "Migration and Age: The Effect of Age on Sensitivity to Migration Stimuli," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(6), pages 521-533.
    18. Cebula, Richard J, 1990. "A Brief Empirical Note on the Tiebout Hypothesis and State Income Tax Policies," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 67(1), pages 87-89, October.
    19. Cebula, Richard, 1973. "Interstate Migration and the Tiebout Hypothesis: An Analysis According to Race, Sex, and Age," MPRA Paper 49827, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Feb 1974.
    20. Noboru Sakashita & Motohiko Hirao, 1999. "On the Applicability of the Tiebout Model to Japanese Cities," Review of Urban & Regional Development Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(3), pages 206-215, November.
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    22. Conway, Karen Smith & Houtenville, Andrew J, 1998. "Do the Elderly "Vote with Their Feet"?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 97(4), pages 663-685, December.
    23. Dawn D. Thilmany & Travis J. Lybbert, 2000. "Migration effects of Olympic siting: A pooled time series cross-sectional analysis of host regions," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 34(3), pages 405-420.
    24. Ira Saltz, 1998. "State income tax policy and geographic labour force mobility in the United States," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(10), pages 599-601.
    25. Cebula, Richard, 1978. "The Determinants of Human Migration," MPRA Paper 58401, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    Cited by:

    1. Cebula, Richard & Foley, Maggie & Hall, Joshua, 2012. "The Impact of Economic Freedom and Total Freedom on Gross State In-Migration: An Exploratory Study of the Great Recession Experience," MPRA Paper 55270, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Brown, Charles C. & Oates, Wallace E., 1987. "Assistance to the poor in a federal system," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 307-330, April.
    3. Brian Cushing & Jacques Poot, 2004. "Crossing boundaries and borders: Regional science advances in migration modelling," Advances in Spatial Science, in: Raymond J. G. M. Florax & David A. Plane (ed.), Fifty Years of Regional Science, pages 317-338, Springer.
    4. Arif, Imran, 2022. "Educational attainment, corruption, and migration: An empirical analysis from a gravity model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    5. Richard J. Cebula, 2009. "Migration and the Tiebout‐Tullock Hypothesis Revisited," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 541-551, April.
    6. Alex Michalos, 1996. "Migration and the quality of life: A review essay," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 121-166, January.
    7. Asmae AQZZOUZ & Nathalie PICARD, 2024. "Residential Mobility And Life Cycle: Examination Of The Influence Of Local Taxes," Working Papers of BETA 2024-12, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    8. Steiner, Susan, 2005. "Decentralisation and Poverty Reduction: A Conceptual Framework for the Economic Impact," GIGA Working Papers 3, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    9. Fanyu Chen & Zi Wen Vivien Wong & Siong Hook Law, 2024. "Brain drain: what is the role of institutions?," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 51(3), pages 605-628, September.
    10. Shan, Hui, 2010. "Property taxes and elderly mobility," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 194-205, March.
    11. Patrizio Lecca & Peter G. McGregor & J. Kim Swales & Ya Ping Yin, 2014. "Balanced Budget Multipliers For Small Open Regions Within A Federal System: Evidence From The Scottish Variable Rate Of Income Tax," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 402-421, June.
    12. Trang Hoang, 2022. "Fiscal competition and state pension reforms," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 41-70, September.
    13. Arthur P. Hall & Scott Moody & Wendy P. Warcholik, 2009. "The County-to-County Migration of Taxpayers and Their Incomes, 1995-2006," Technical Reports 090306, Brandmeyer Center for Applied Economics, School of Business, University of Kansas.
    14. Johnson, Erik & Walsh, Randall, 2013. "The effect of property taxes on vacation home growth rates: Evidence from Michigan," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 740-750.
    15. Marie Poprawe, 2015. "On the relationship between corruption and migration: empirical evidence from a gravity model of migration," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 337-354, June.
    16. Lecca, Patrizio & McGregor, Peter G. & Swales, J. Kim & Yin, Ya Ping, 2010. "Inverted Haavelmo Effects in a General Equilibrium Analysis of the Impact of Implementing the Scottish Variable Rate of Income Tax," SIRE Discussion Papers 2010-47, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    17. Nikias Sarafoglou & William A. Sprigg, 2015. "A Selective Migration Review: from public policy to public health," Department of Economics University of Siena 712, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    18. Justin Ehrlich & Simon Medcalfe & Shane Sanders, 2024. "Constructing and validating a best-fit economic well-being index for urban U.S. counties: a Tiebout model approach," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 199(1), pages 45-63, April.
    19. Richard J. Cebula & J.R. Clark, 2011. "Migration, Economic Freedom, and Personal Freedom: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 27(Fall 2011), pages 43-62.
    20. Simonson, Matthew J., 2022. "Tax Deductions & Interstate Migration," Master's Theses and Plan B Papers 330265, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    21. Farnham, Martin & Sevak, Purvi, 2006. "State fiscal institutions and empty-nest migration: Are Tiebout voters hobbled?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(3), pages 407-427, February.
    22. Joshua Hall & Donald Lacombe & Maria Tackett, 2020. "Income Tax Adoption and Spatial Diffusion," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 48(2), pages 185-193, June.
    23. Aziz N. Berdiev & James W. Saunoris, 2020. "Cross‐Country Evidence Of Corruption Spillovers To Formal And Informal Entrepreneurship," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 38(1), pages 48-66, January.
    24. Daniel Hummel, 2016. "Inter-State Internal Migration: State-level Wellbeing as a Cause," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 17(5), pages 2149-2165, October.
    25. Richard Cebula, 2014. "The Impact of Economic Freedom and Personal Freedom on Net In-Migration in the U.S.: A State-Level Empirical Analysis, 2000 to 2010," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 88-103, March.

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    JEL classification:

    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H42 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Publicly Provided Private Goods
    • 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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