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The Effect of Geographical Mobility on Income

Author

Listed:
  • John B. Lansing
  • James N. Morgan

Abstract

When people move from one area to another they typically do so in order to raise their incomes. Economists would like to be able to estimate by how much migrants' incomes do in fact increase as a result of their mobility. Comparison of the incomes of migrants with nonmigrants in a cross section of the population, however, shows that the incomes of migrants tend to be lower, not higher, than those of nonmigrants. This paper reports an analysis of this apparent paradox using data collected by the Survey Research Center. The difference in incomes between migrants and nonmigrants is traced to the disadvantages of those who move to economically advantaged areas compared to people who always have lived in those areas. The proper comparison is between those who were brought up in poor areas but left, with otherwise similar people who stayed. Holding constant number of years of education is not sufficient to remove the differences in earnings between people of different geographic backgrounds. It is suggested that the reason may be that there are important differences from place to place in quality of education which are not removed by taking into account the number of years of schooling.

Suggested Citation

  • John B. Lansing & James N. Morgan, 1967. "The Effect of Geographical Mobility on Income," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 2(4), pages 449-460.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:2:y:1967:i:4:p:449-460
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. T J Fik & R G Amey & G F Mulligan, 1992. "Labor Migration Amongst Hierarchically Competing and Intervening Origins and Destinations," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 24(9), pages 1271-1290, September.
    2. Jeroen Smits, 2001. "Career Migration, Self-selection and the Earnings of Married Men and Women in the Netherlands, 1981-93," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 38(3), pages 541-562, March.
    3. Paul C. Langley, 1977. "Inter‐regional Migration and Economic Opportunity, Australia, 1966‐71," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 53(1), pages 51-69, March.
    4. Susan O Gustavus & L A Brown, 1977. "Place Attributes in a Migration Decision Context," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 9(5), pages 529-548, May.
    5. M Cadwallader, 1985. "Structural-Equation Models of Migration: An Example from the Upper Midwest USA," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 17(1), pages 101-113, January.
    6. Di Cintio, Marco & Grassi, Emanuele, 2010. "Internal Migration and Wage Differentials among Italian University Graduates," MPRA Paper 26707, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Randall Filer, 1992. "The Effect of Immigrant Arrivals on Migratory Patterns of Native Workers," NBER Chapters, in: Immigration and the Work Force: Economic Consequences for the United States and Source Areas, pages 245-270, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Malgorzata Switek, 2016. "Internal Migration and Life Satisfaction: Well-Being Paths of Young Adult Migrants," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 125(1), pages 191-241, January.
    9. James Morgan & Ismail Sirageldin, 1970. "Two measures of geographic location and their relation to income," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 7(2), pages 169-173, May.
    10. Maria Abreu & Alessandra Faggian & Philip McCann, 2011. "Migration and inter-industry mobility of UK graduates: Effect on earnings and career satisfaction," ERSA conference papers ersa11p118, European Regional Science Association.
    11. Frank Kirwan, 1982. "Labour Exporting in the Middle East: The Jordanian Experience," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 13(1), pages 63-89, January.
    12. N Carmon, 1994. "Achieving Population Dispersal through Tailor-Made Community Planning: An Israeli Experiment in the Galilee Region," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 26(4), pages 639-656, April.

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