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This paper examines determinants of couple migration in a model that accounts for self-selection of migrant couples. The study is based on a sample of married couples from the Swedish population. The model incorporates controls for earnings of both spouses preceding the move, and explicitly addresses unmeasured heterogeneity in the family decision to migrate. Two statistical formulations are presented. In the first version, migration is measured as a dichotomous move/stay decision. A second formulation replaces the dichotomous indicator with the distance moved by migrants. Results suggest that family migration is selective of relatively low earning wives with unmeasured potential for strong earnings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the impact of active labor market programs on interregional migration in Sweden. The purpose of the study is to determine the extent to which the programs, which provide training and labor market assistance to jobless individuals, induce participants to migrate. Analysis is based on data registers compiled in 1994 and 1995 by Statistics Sweden and the Labor Market Board of Sweden. The paper specifies and estimates a two-equation model of participation and subsequent migration. The model, which is estimated by the method of maximum simulated likelihood, accounts for the role of program participation as an endogenous choice variable in the decision to migrate. In an attempt to capture the effect of migrant self-selection, the estimation approach also controls for unobserved heterogeneity in the participation and migration equations. Results of the study indicate a significant positive impact of participation on subsequent mobility for males. This result is robust with respect to alternative specifications of the migration equation and alternative formulations of the model for program participation. For females, the evidence of program impacts is mixed and it appears to be sensitive to the statistical formulation of the model. ( JEL J38, J61) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research in regional and labor economics has established that economic incentives play a significant role in the process of internal migration. The most common approach is to view migration as a form of human capital investment undertaken by individuals who expect to benefit from the standpoint of increased earnings. One of the central concepts in these models is self-selection. Individuals who self-select the option of migration tend to differ from the nonmigrant population in ways that are not measured in most data sets. The contribution of this paper is in its distinction between two aspects of migrant selection. On one hand, some workers possess unmeasured traits that might simultaneously affect their wages and their propensity to engage in risky human capital investment such as migration. On the other hand, measured earnings might exert a direct effect on migration. Based on samples of employed Swedish males and females at two points in time, this study seeks first to examine whether migration between the two periods occurs in the presence of correlation between unmeasured factors present in both earnings during the first period and the subsequent decision to migrate. Second, it looks for an explicit role of earnings per se in the migration decision. Results of the study provide support for selection based on unmeasured traits for both genders. For females, there is also evidence of selection based on measured earnings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we study the effect of interregional migration on gross income of labour. The empirical analysis is based on Swedish household data for the period 1994 to 1995. We are primarily concerned with the allocation effect of migration on economic growth in an economy where the incentives for migration may be hampered by relatively high income taxes and transfers. A treatment-effect model for migration and income is estimated. The results indicate significant income gains from migration for the unemployed as well as for those who were employed prior to migration. The estimation results also indicate negative correlation between errors in the migration function and the income function. The hypothesis of no self-selection can be rejected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the economic bases for the selection of marriage partners by individuals. Studies on the earnings premium of married males relative to single males; Comparison of the estimates of wage variables between husbands and wives; Variables that were used as measures of unobserved characteristics that spouses possess prior to and immediately following marriage.

Economists have produced a sizable literature examining the role of labor migration in restoring wage and price equilibria among dispersed markets. A much smaller literature addresses another dimension of mobility, regional migration of entrepreneurs and firms. In this study we examine a model of the firm's decision to migrate, utilizing the Duns Market Identifiers data file. The model consists in part of an equation describing the decision to migrate, in order to determine the extent to which measured characteristics of the firm's environment explain firm migration. Additional equations in the model explain particular outcomes of migration: the growth in sales during a fixed interval after a move and the corresponding growth of employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the effects of interregional and interindustry migration on earnings. Properties of labor mobility model; Determinants of labor mobility; Factors influencing the migration.

This study examines the consequences of minimum wages on female employment prospects. Of special interest is the likelihood of successful job search for women whose wages in the absence of legislation would be below the minimum. It is commonly argued that minimum wages in competitive labor markets have the effect of hindering employment prospects of low wage workers. This study, based on a sample of microdata from the Public Use Sample of the 1980 Census, proposes a simple framework in which this issue can be addressed in the context of a conventional model of labor supply. Elementary theory suggests that imposition of an effective minimum wage in a competitive labor market induces a pool of job seekers which exceeds the number of hires. Theory seems to suggest 5. We wish to thank an anonymous referee for this suggestion. that those selected for hire will come from among the higher-wage job seekers. In fact it appears that a substantial number of subminimum wage applicants successfully find employment despite the presence of the legal minimum. Our approach is to select a sample of apparently low wage women and isolate characteristics that are associated with successful job search. In this way we are able to identify the types of women who are most likely to be relegated to the losing end of the job queue. We find that younger women are more likely to be subminimum and then, given that status, less likely to find jobs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to describe and estimate a model of returns to migration which explicitly accounts for self-selection of migrants from the working population. The essence of the problem as it pertains to migration is summarized in a recent survey:
The present study is intended as a point of departure for more fruitful analysis, so that returns to migration need not be couched in terms of a mere "lower bound" of migrant earnings.
The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: Section II describes a simple model of migrant behavior in which the decision to migrate, viewed in the context of investment in human capital, results as the solution to an optimal control problem. Section III provides details of a simultaneous equations model which incorporates the decision to migrate, returns to migration and self-selection. Results of estimation are presented in Section IV, based on a large random sample of individual wage earners taken from the Continuous Work History Sample (CWHS) of the Social Security Administration. Section V summarizes and concludes the study.
This study represents the first attempt to incorporate endogenous selectivity into a model of migration and income. The structural model comprises a decision equation along with earnings equations for migrants and non-migrants. Estimation of the model is conducted by a two stage procedure which has proven effective in other empirical studies of self-selection. Results of estimation lead to the major findings of the study: (1) there is strong evidence of self-selection in the earnings of non-migrants; (2) the effect of the self-selection process on unconditional expected earnings is positive; and (3) the structural decision equation has among its explanatory variables expected changes in earnings, thus supporting the traditional Sjaastad framework for the human capital approach to migration.
The results of this study indicate that viable opportunities for research exist... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]