Interregional Labor Migration Research Articles

Interregional Labor Migration and Its Role in Shaping Economic Growth: A Case Study of Casual Worker Migrants in Indonesia

Purpose: This study analyzed the determinants and impacts of casual migrant workers that was conducted in East Java, which is known as one of highest economic growth area in Indonesia and experiencing a higher influx of migrants compared to migrants leaving the region. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study employs the two-step heckman method. The sample consists of workers who engaged in interregional migration within East Java on 2015. The sample was selected based on characteristics that align with the research requirements, extracted from secondary data derived from the 2015 inter-census population survey. The data type used is cross-sectional data. Findings: The research findings indicate that significant determinants of casual migrant workers are migrants of non-productive age, male migrants, migrants with non-bachelor's/diploma, unmarried migrants, migrants without family under 5 years old, migrants originating from predominantly wooden/board/earthen floors, migrants from higher minimum wage regions than the destination, non-metropolitan city migrants, and migrants from areas with a lower poverty rate than destination region, which are more likely to move and become migrants. The results for the significant impact of casual migrant workers on the economic sector are influenced by casual migrant workers originating from non-metropolitan city regions, which contribute the most to the destination region's GRDP. Research, practical & social implications: This study formulates policy strategies that can be employed by government to enhance the quality of human resources and expand employment opportunities, particularly for casual migrant workers, as an endeavor to boost economic growth in the destination regions of migration.

Interregional Labor Migration in Russia: Modeling and Assessing the Consequences

Interregional Labor Migration in Russia: Modeling and Assessing the Consequences

Assessment of the impact of labor migration on the natural demographic movement of the region’s population

Labor migration is a key factor in regional demo-economic processes. On the one hand, it plays a significant role in achieving balanced employment. In this sense, it plays a significant role in achieving of the labor markets efficiency. On the other hand, labor migration, as a leading factor in the general migration of the population, along with births and deaths, affects the demographic development of territories. The study of the dual nature of labor migration in the «economy-population» system is an important area of predictive analytics and population movement modeling. The article is devoted to the study of the factors of labor migration dynamics in the region and the assessment of its impact on the natural movement of the population. The object of the study is North Ossetia, as a Russian region with a stable negative migration balance and a deteriorating demographic situation. The work used the methods of a sociological survey, as well as cliometric, statistical, graphical and regression analysis. Sociological studies have shown that the level of development of the labor market has a decisive influence on the migration behavior of the young population. The results of the regression analysis performed in the Excel showed a high and strong inverse relationship between the indicators of the natural population movement and the labor migration of young people. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the development of a systematic methodology for studying the demo-economic processes of the region in order to model effective interregional labor migration in Russia.

Russian Regions in Interregional Labor Migration: Level of Participation, Causes and Factors

The article analyzes statistical and sociological data on the level of participation of the subjects of the Russian Federation in interregional labor migration, its causes and factors. In the first part of the article, based on data from the Rosstat labor force survey for more than a decade (from 2011 to 2021), regional features are identified. It is shown that not all regions fit into the all-Russian trend, which is characterized by progressive growth until 2018 (with the exception of 2014); a decline in 2019, 2020 and a certain growth in 2021, which did not reach the level of 2018. The dynamics of the indicators of the last two years have been strongly influenced by the situation with the coronavirus pandemic. At the level of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the participation of the employed population in interregional labor migration is unstable and differentiated. In most regions, approximately every two to four years, periods of growth in the number of temporary labor migrants are replaced by their decline. About a third of the regions have high (more than 10%) and average (from 5 to 10%) levels of participation of the employed population in interregional labor migration. From these regions, the majority of all temporary labor migrants – about 70% - leave for other subjects of the Russian Federation. In the second part of the article, the author analyzes the data of sociological studies conducted in the Republic of Bashkortostan in 2018, 2019. Bashkortostan belongs to the regions with a relatively stable upward dynamics of population participation in interregional labor migration and leads (after the Moscow and Leningrad regions) in the absolute number of interregional labor migrants. According to sociological data, the highest level of participation in temporary labor migration of rural residents. Based on the methodology proposed by L.L. The author identifies the factors and causes of interregional labor migration. The first include the state of the labor market, employment; income level; the level and quality of life of the population; the second – lack of jobs, low wages, limited opportunities to meet the needs in the field of social development. Employment and income, according to the author, are the key factors of temporary labor migration, which is indirectly confirmed by the results of other studies in the Republic of Bashkortostan, according to which shift migrants have a high level of dissatisfaction with these areas of life. These problems are most acute in rural areas, which causes a relatively high level of participation in temporary labor migration of rural residents.

Risk sharing and industrial specialization in China

We investigate how risk sharing shapes industrial specialization across prefecture-level cities in China. By unbundling the mechanisms of risk sharing, we find that ex ante risk sharing generates a first-order stimulant effect on the geographical concentration of manufacturing industries, particularly for non-state-owned enterprises and cyclical industries. Ex post risk sharing matters only for state-owned enterprises. This result remains robust to instrument variable estimation and controlling for other determinants of industrial specialization. Finally, we show that interregional labor migration (special fiscal transfers) plays an important role in promoting interregional ex ante (ex post) risk sharing. The study implies that much more risk sharing and efficiency gains from industrial specialization would be achieved if capital markets and credit markets are better developed.

Are old regions less attractive? Interregional labour migration in a context of population ageing

AbstractRegional demographic change is often conceptualized as a circular process, where out‐migration continuously worsens conditions of population ageing and shrinkage. Thus, if migration acts as a consequence as well as cause of ageing, migration patterns should be influenced by the age structure of origin and destination regions. This paper analyses individual‐level migration decisions of full‐time employees across 326 German regions between 1997 and 2013 using binary choice models. The results show that individuals are more likely to migrate out of and less likely to migrate towards ageing regions. Moreover, the identified patterns are consistent with age‐selective migration reinforcing ageing processes and polarization of demographic structure.

Regional subsidies and interregional labor movement

Japan distributes lump-sum grants and subsidies to the vast majority of local regions. Each region makes a decision regarding expenditure and can choose between non-distortionary direct transfers to the region’s natives and subsidies to stimulate the local economy. Considering a two-region economy with interregional labor migration, we compare the welfare effects of direct transfers and economic stimulation subsidies including those intended to support production, employment, wages, and residents. The results show that under full employment, replacing direct transfers with stimulation subsidies benefits (harms) natives if the recipient region specializes in labor-intensive (labor-saving) activities. However, such replacements can be detrimental to natives if the region suffers unemployment due to wage rigidity. For example, wage and resident subsidies may cause harm as they promote immigration, without stimulating production.

Interregional Labor Migration as a Tool to Increase Regional Labor Productivity: The Case of Russia

Purpose: The paper deals with the analysis of the influence of interregional labor migration in the Russian Federation on regional labor productivity. Design/Methodology/Approach: Empirical analysis was conducted on the statistical data collected from the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation. The sample includes data on 85 subjects of the Russian Federation for the period 2011-2016. The study substantiates the impact of interregional labor migration in the Russian Federation on regional labor productivity and to form the tools for managing migration processes, ensuring its improvement. Findings: The study showed that interregional differences in wages, the differentiation of the characteristics of labor markets in the region of residence and the potential region of employment, different transport accessibility and additional employee costs associated with staying in another region are the main economic reasons for interregional labor migration in the Russian Federation. The regression analysis confirmed hypotheses that higher level of labor migration from the region leads to a decrease in labor productivity in the region. Practical Implications: Based on the empirically derived relationships, authors created a set of tools for managing migration processes, ensuring their improvement, which can be used for the development of program documents at the regional and interregional levels. Originality/Value: The main contribution of this study is the combination of deep statistical analysis and migration factors‘ analysis to provide valuable conclusions in interregional labor migrations.

The dynamics of employment and regional labour markets situation of Russia in 2010-2017

The article examines the dynamics of employment (employment level) and key indicators of regional labor markets in Russia in 2010-2017: sectoral structure (by types of organizations, including large, medium, small- and micro-) and sectoral structure, unemployment, and labor migration. The aim of the study was to establish the presence or absence of regional specificity (with the allocation of types) of changes in the key characteristics of labor markets, and to assess the prevailing trends of the processes. It is concluded that a significant impact of the demographic factor in the increase of employment took place in most regions. This factor prevails over economic factors (changes in the number of jobs). The groups of regions based on the causes of changes in the level of employment were defined. The analysis of the regional sectoral structure of employment allowed to assess it for each region of Russia, as well as to point out the key trends: the growth of shadow (informal) employment, the reduction of the role of small and medium – sized businesses, the increase in interregional labor migration as a result of the polarization of the situation in the regional labor markets and the strengthening of national cores in the labor market (Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Tyumen region with Autonomous districts). The study shows the sector shifts in the regional labor markets as a whole, as well as in the sphere of small and medium-sized businesses. It is established that the transition to the American-Asian model continues in the regions. This tendency provide an increase in the share of the tertiary sector due to the reduction of agricultural and industrial employment, but this process became significantly slowed compared to the 90s and 2000s. The dynamics of the indices of structural differences (Gatev and Ryabtsev indices) shows that structural differences between the regions tend to decrease (convergence of structures).

Population Migration and Regional Economic Disparities

This paper constructs an economic growth model featuring both developed and underdeveloped regions to examine the effects of inter-regional labor migration on both regional population structures and regional economic disparities. As part of the natural growth of the labor force in the two types of regions, agents from underdeveloped areas move to developed areas in pursuit of higher income, resulting in migration costs. In analyzing the effects of dynamic inter-regional labor migration on regional economic equilibrium (RBGP equilibrium) and aggregate economic equilibrium (ABGP equilibrium), this paper concludes that labor flows into developed areas promote local economic growth and that labor flows out of underdeveloped areas hinder local economic growth. Increased regional labor disparities will lead to increased regional economic disparities; therefore, to promote steady growth in the aggregate economy, regional economic policy should focus on coordinating regional economic development.

Migration and the Environment: Policy Reform in a Polluted Open Economy

AbstractPrevious literature on labour migration has paid little attention to the influence of environmental attributes. This paper attempts to remedy this void by developing a simple, two‐region general equilibrium model with amenities playing a key role in affecting migration flows. Specifically, we argue that in the presence of an environmental externality, interregional labour migration depends not only on wages but also on amenities. People may leave a region offering higher wages, if the resulting utility loss from worsened amenities exceeds the gain in wages. Policies should be adopted by regions or nations to regulate the environment to provide for the quality of living. To attain this goal, regional or international policy cooperation on tradable pollution permits can be superior to pollution permits supplied independently by each region or nation while non‐tradable between them.

Modelling Migration and Regional Labour Markets: an Application of the New Economic Geography Model RHOMOLO

The present paper describes the modelling of regional labour markets in the newly developed dynamic spatial general equilibrium model RHOMOLO, where the labour market equilibrium is determined by firms' labour demand, a wage-curve determining unemployment, and inter-regional labour migration. The RHOMOLO model is parameterised by estimating the key structural parameters econometrically. In order to illustrate the potential of the proposed dynamic spatial general equilibrium approach for analysing regionally integrated labour markets, we carry out simulations showing the effects of a reduction in transportation cost, and assess the impact on regional labour markets. Our results confirm that wages and unemployment are by far the most important channels of adjustment to macro-economic and policy shocks in the EU. In contrast, labour migration plays a secondary role in labour market adjustments in the EU. Our results also suggest that the relationship between market access, labour demand and labour supply is non-linear and spatially inter-dependent, which underlines the importance of the proposed dynamic spatial general equilibrium approach.

Effects of industrial relocation on Chinese regional economic growth disparities: Based on system dynamics modeling

The economic growth of China has led to increasing growth disparities between regions. Such disparities are uncontrolled and are severely negative symptoms in the process of economic development. On the basis of system dynamics (SD) modeling and the relationship between industrial relocation and regional economic growth, we construct a model of the interrelationship between the two aforementioned phenomena. The model is an effective and creative exploration for examining effects of industrial relocation on Chinese regional economic growth disparities. The SD model is employed in this study to build an inter-regional labor migration SD model, an inter-regional capital migration SD model, an intra-industry SD model, an intra-regional population SD model, and an intra-regional SD model which are based on realities in labor and capital flow from the view of industrial relocation. VENSIM software is utilized to perform a system simulation based on the data of the eastern, middle, and western regions from 2000 to 2010. Results show that industrial relocation gradually narrows the relative disparity in GDP among the three regions. Moreover, the absolute one is enlarged continuously. The absolute and relative disparities in per capita GDP among eastern, middle, and western regions generally exhibit decreasing trends.

Interregional labour migration and real wage disparities: Evidence from Japan

AbstractThis paper empirically tests the relationships between interregional labour migration and regional real wages based on a multi‐region economic geography model, which describes bilateral migration flows. In particular, this paper highlights real wage disparities in the migration analysis. Our empirical methodology contains two steps. First, we structurally estimate a gravity model using manufacturing workers’ migration flows across the 47 Japanese prefectures. Second, using the estimates of the structural parameters, we examine the impact of the real wage on the net migration rate. We find that migrants respond to real wage disparities, rather than to nominal wage disparities.

Modelling Migration and Regional Labour Markets: An Application of the New Economic Geography Model Rhomolo

The present paper describes the modelling of regional labour markets in the newly developed dynamic spatial general equilibrium model RHOMOLO, where the labour market equilibrium is determined by rms' labour demand, a wage-curve determining unemployment, and interregional labour migration. The RHOMOLO model is parameterised by estimating the key structural parameters econometrically. In order to illustrate the potential of the proposed dynamic spatial general equilibrium approach for analysing regionally integrated labour markets, we carry out simulations showing the effects of a reduction in transportation cost, and assess the impact on regional labour markets. Our results confirm that wages and unemployment are by far the most important channels of adjustment to macro-economic and policy shocks in the EU. In contrast, labour migration plays a secondary role in labour market adjustments in the EU. Our results also suggest that the relationship between market access, labour demand and labour supply is non-linear and spatially inter-dependent, which underlines the importance of the proposed dynamic spatial general equilibrium approach.

The Turn of the Gulf Tide: Empire, Nationalism, and South Asian Labor Migration to Iraq, c. 1900–1935

AbstractThis paper looks at various circumstances of labor migration from South Asia to Iraq between 1900 and 1935. It stresses that inter-regional labor migration existed to varying degrees before, during, and after the First World War. This was predominantly a function of longstanding commercial ties besides the wartime engagement. At another level, the article offers an interpretation of how labor migration intersects with imperial formations as well as nationalisms evolving in both realms. It argues that the issue of migration to Iraq has to be seen in the context of a plethora of interventions and demands in the relationship between India and the Persian Gulf region over a much longer time period.

The Economic Consequence of Labor Mobility in China's Regional Development

Factor mobility plays an important role in the convergence of regional income levels. This paper examines the role of labor mobility in China's regional economic development in the context of phases of demographic transition and the existence of institutional barriers. Our findings show that the two most important sources of interregional income disparity are per worker capital stock and technology level. The fact that the richest provincial economies are at the later phase of demographic transition provides a major reason for why those economies have accumulated higher per worker capital stock and achieved higher productivity levels. We also discover that regional per capita income levels have not displayed convergence since the mid 1990s. Two observations explain this phenomenon. One observation is that capital and labor movements have played only a limited role in equalizing their marginal returns across regions despite the fact that labor mobility has substantially strengthened this role since 2000. The other observation is that the impact of demographic changes on income growth has been distinctly uneven between the rich and poor regions. This phenomenon can be attributed to some particular features of China's interregional labor migration.

Regional labour market signals and inter-regional labour migration preferences

Regional labour market signals and inter-regional labour migration preferences

Interregional labour mobility, inequality and wage convergence

The objectives of the paper are to examine the determinants of interregional labour migration for German regions using the data on gross flows of labour movements across regions. This is one of the few studies where data on labour migration is used. There also was a wage convergence after reunification between regions of East and West Germany and this to a certain extent provides an explanation for non-linear relationship between wage differences among regions and migration. As the study distinguishes the blue-collar and white-collar wage difference between regions, different relationships between migration and blue and white-collar workers' wage differences can be assessed. We also test the hypothesis whether highly skilled workers migrate to the regions where inequality is greater while less skilled workers tend to migrate to the regions where inequality is low.

Analysis of Interregional Labor Migration in Spain Using Gross Flows

In this paper we study the economic determinants of Spanish interregional labor force flows from an aggregate perspective. The study is based on a matching model of the labor market applied to migration, and uses gross rather than net flows as other studies do. Among the main results, we find that unemployment increases out‐migration because unemployed people search more actively, but when the unemployment rate is above a certain level this effect is reduced. We also find that the rate of change of relative wages is a significant determinant of migration in Spain.