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The role of education and educational–occupational mismatches in decisions regarding commuting and interregional migration from eastern to western Germany

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  • Silvia Maja Melzer

    (Universität Bielefeld)

  • Thomas Hinz

    (Universität Konstanz)

Abstract

Objective: This paper investigates commuting and interregional migration from eastern to western Germany, and asks, first: Who chooses to migrate and who chooses to commute? Second: Does commuting serve as a stepping-stone or as a long-term alternative to migration? And third: What role does education and educational–occupational mismatch play in those choices? Methods: We use the Socio-Economic Panel data from 1992 to 2013 and multilevel multinomial logit models with random effects, as well as cross-classified multilevel logit with random effects. Results: People with higher education are more likely to migrate than to remain immobile or to commute, while people who have spent less time in education are more likely to commute than to remain immobile or to migrate. Educational–occupational mismatches reduce the likelihood of migration for both men and women, but they reduce the likelihood of commuting only for men. For women, educational–occupational mismatches increase the likelihood of commuting. Moreover, commuting serves as a stepping-stone to migration, rather than as a long-term alternative to it, especially for the highly educated. Contribution: We investigate the relationship between migration and commuting more directly than has been the case in previous research. Moreover, we advance previous research by showing how educational–occupational mismatch influences decisions as to whether to commute or to migrate. Our analysis shows how education, educational–occupational mismatch, and gender are interrelated and intertwined with each other, and how gender-specific mobility patterns follow from these interrelations.

Suggested Citation

  • Silvia Maja Melzer & Thomas Hinz, 2019. "The role of education and educational–occupational mismatches in decisions regarding commuting and interregional migration from eastern to western Germany," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(16), pages 461-476.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:41:y:2019:i:16
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2019.41.16
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    Cited by:

    1. Stefanie Kley & Thordis Reimer, 2023. "Exploring the Gender Gap in Teleworking from Home. The Roles of Worker’s Characteristics, Occupational Positions and Gender Equality in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 185-206, August.
    2. Sergi Vidal & Johannes Huinink, 2019. "Introduction to the special collection on spatial mobility, family dynamics, and gender relations," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(21), pages 593-616.
    3. Cindy Biesenbeek, 2022. "The Effect of Unemployment on Interregional Migration in the Netherlands," Working Papers 753, DNB.
    4. Vidal, Sergi & Lersch, Philipp M., 2021. "Panel Data in Research on Mobility and Migration: A Review of Recent Advances," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 46, pages 187-214.
    5. Viviana Carriel & Marcelo Lufin & Manuel Pérez-Trujillo, 2022. "Do workers negative self-select when they commute? Evidence for the Chilean case of long-distance commuting," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 69(1), pages 255-279, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    education; gender; regional mobility; commuting; educational-occupational mismatch;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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