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The internal relocation premium: are migrants positively or negatively selected? Evidence from Italy

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  • Andrea Cutillo
  • Claudio Ceccarelli

Abstract

This paper analyzes the wage returns from internal migration for recent graduates in Italy. We employ a switching regression model that accounts for the endogeneity of the individual’s choice to relocate to get a job after graduation: the omission of this selection decision can lead to biased estimates, as there is potential correlation between earnings and unobserved traits exerting an influence on the decision to migrate. The empirical results sustain the appropriateness of the estimation technique and show that there is a significant pay gap between migrants and nonmigrants; migrants seem to be positively selected and the migration premium is downward biased through OLS estimates. The endogeneity of migration shows up both as a negative intercept effect and as a positive slope effect, the second being larger then the first: bad knowledge of the local labor market and financial constraints lead migrants to accept a low basic wage but, due to relevant returns to their characteristics, they finally obtain an higher wage then the others.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Cutillo & Claudio Ceccarelli, 2010. "The internal relocation premium: are migrants positively or negatively selected? Evidence from Italy," Working Papers in Public Economics 137, Department of Economics and Law, Sapienza University of Roma.
    • Handle: RePEc:sap:wpaper:wp137
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    Cited by:

    1. Terry Gregory & Melanie Arntz & Florian Lehmer, 2011. "Unequal Pay or Unequal Employment? What Drives the Self-Selection of Internal Migrants in Germany?," ERSA conference papers ersa11p972, European Regional Science Association.
    2. Ghignoni, Emanuela & Verashchagina, Alina, 2014. "Educational qualifications mismatch in Europe. Is it demand or supply driven?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 670-692.
    3. Emanuela Ghignoni, 2011. "Young workers' overeducation and cohort effects in P.I.G.S. countries versus the Netherlands: a pseudo-panel analysis," Working Papers in Public Economics 147, Department of Economics and Law, Sapienza University of Roma.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    internal relocation; endogeneity; pay gap; migration premium.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • 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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