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What Matters more for the Decision to Move: Jobs versus Amenities

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Niedomysl

    (Institute for Futures Studies, Box 591, SE 10131 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Høgni Kalsø Hansen

    (Centre for Innovation, Research, and Competence in the Learning Economy, Lund University, Box 117, SE 22100 Lund, Sweden)

Abstract

Highly skilled workers are increasingly recognised as a key competitive asset for regional development, and claims have been made that emphasise the importance of certain amenities for the prospects of attracting this particular group of workers. We use a recent large-scale survey to investigate the relative importance of jobs versus amenities for the decision to migrate, as perceived by the migrants themselves. The paper thereby adds important insights to the existing literature that has hitherto mainly focused on analysing the extent to which aggregate migration flows correlate with employment-related or amenity-related factors. The results show that jobs are considerably more important for the decision to move among highly educated migrants compared with migrants with lower education.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Niedomysl & Høgni Kalsø Hansen, 2010. "What Matters more for the Decision to Move: Jobs versus Amenities," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 42(7), pages 1636-1649, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:42:y:2010:i:7:p:1636-1649
    DOI: 10.1068/a42432
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    8. Høgni Kalsø Hansen & Thomas Niedomysl, 2009. "Migration of the creative class: evidence from Sweden," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 191-206, March.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Manchin, Miriam & Orazbayev, Sultan, 2018. "Social networks and the intention to migrate," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 360-374.
    3. Jianyi Li & Douglas Webster & Jianming Cai & Larissa Muller, 2019. "Innovation Clusters Revisited: On Dimensions of Agglomeration, Institution, and Built-Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-15, June.
    4. Zhang, Min & Partridge, Mark & Song, Huasheng, 2018. "Amenities and Geography of Innovation: Evidence from Chinese Cities," MPRA Paper 83673, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Luisa Gagliardi & Teresa Schlüter, 2015. "The Role of Education for Amenity Based Sorting in British Cities," SERC Discussion Papers 0184, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    6. Ye Liu & Jianfa Shen, 2014. "Spatial patterns and determinants of skilled internal migration in China, 2000–2005," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(4), pages 749-771, November.
    7. Marie H. Wahlström, 2017. "What About The Soul Of The City? Applying A Resident Perspective In Four Swedish Cities," Romanian Journal of Regional Science, Romanian Regional Science Association, vol. 11(1), pages 36-61, December.
    8. Zhao, Juanjuan & Bentlage, Michael & Thierstein, Alain, 2017. "Residence, workplace and commute: Interrelated spatial choices of knowledge workers in the metropolitan region of Munich," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 197-212.
    9. Qingsheng Yang & Hongxian Zhang & Kevin M Mwenda, 2019. "County-Scale Destination Migration Attractivity Measurement and Determinants Analysis: A Case Study of Guangdong Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-19, January.
    10. Peter Karpestam, 2018. "Who Benefits from More Housing? A Panel Data Study on the Role of Housing in the Intermunicipal Migration of Different Age Cohorts in Sweden," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 48(3), pages 401-425, Winter.
    11. Yingxue Rao & Deyi Dai, 2017. "Creative Class Concentrations in Shanghai, China: What is the Role of Neighborhood Social Tolerance and Life Quality Supportive Conditions?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(3), pages 1237-1246, July.

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