Economic Influences on Migration in Sweden

Abstract: Paper [I]- Household Migration and the Local Public Sector: Evidence from Sweden, 1981-1984 (co-authored with Michael L. Wyzan), contains an empirical explo­ration of the nexus between variables related to the local public sector budget and migration. Micro-data is employed in binomial and multinomial-logit regressions esti­mating the probability to migrate. We report results separately for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, because the per capita levels of the tax base and intergovernmen­tal grants are theoretically important migration determinants where population is sparse, while the tax rate may be more important where population is dense. Empirical results support our fiscal hypotheses and are consistent with previous findings on household characteristics.Paper [II]- Internal Gross Migration in Sweden: The effects of Variation in Mobility Grants and Regional Labour Market Conditions, focuses on the effects of labor market conditions and migratory stimuli on over county-border migration. Aggregate data on the flows of all migrants and on the flows of migrants receiving extra mobility stimuli are used in estimations of a single-equation migration model based on the hiring function. The results indicate that regional migration flows respond to changes in labor market conditions in accordance with predictions from economic theory. This result seems mainly to stem from the migratory behavior of the unemployed. In addition, nonmatching migration subsidies at the levels employed are not found to be migration enhancing.Paper [IH]- Employment Opportunities, Wages and Interregional Migration in Sweden 1970-1989, deals with the impact of aggregate labor turnover and regional labor market conditions on gross in- and outmigration. Annual panel data is used in estima­tion of separate in- and outmigration functions, where regional labor market conditions are assumed to be endogenous with migration under two different assumptions concer­ning the working of the labor market. An increase in the regional excess supply of labor is found to increase outmigration and decrease inmigration. Moreover, cyclical variation in labor turnover is positively correlated with gross migration. The hypothesized effects of real wages on migration are not confirmed. The results are not sensitive to the various assumptions concerning regional wage formation considered in this study.Paper [IV]- A Panel Study of Migration, Household Real Earnings and Self-Selec- tion (co-authored with Roger Axelsson). The effects of migration on household real earnings are examined. Data pertain to a sample of stable household constellations in Sweden, 1978-1991. A treatment-effect model is employed, whereby the potential effects of nonrandom sampling of data on earnings for migrants and nonmigrants are taken into account. We find that stable multi-adult household constellations did not gain in income from migration during the 1980s. In addition, we find no strong indications of selection bias in the income equation.