Human Capital Theory and Internal Migration: Do Average Outcomes Distort Our View of Migrant Motives?

Abstract

By modelling the distribution of percentage income gains for movers in Sweden, using multinomial logistic regression, this paper shows that those receiving large pecuniary returns from migration are primarily those moving to the larger metropolitan areas and those with higher education, and that there is much more variability in income gains than what is often assumed in models of average gains to migration. This suggests that human capital models of internal migration often overemphasize the job and income motive for moving, and fail to explore where and when human capital motivated migration occurs.

City size, employer concentration, and wage income inequality

Working paperPublication

Halvarsson, D., & Korpi, M.

Publication year

2025

Published in

Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy (IFAU)

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between the urban wage premium and employer concentration using Swedish full population employer-employee data. Departing from an AKM modeling framework to distinguish worker from firm specific heterogeneity – a measure of rent-sharing – we then measure the urban wage premium using differences in the estimated firm fixed effects at the level of local industries, nested within local labor markets. Our results suggest that labor market employer concentration, as calculated using the Hirschman-Herfindahl index and a leave-one-out instrumental variable design, can account for a significant share of the estimated urban wage premium (UWP). Addressing city-level wage income inequality by applying our model to different segments of the local labor market income distribution, we find that while the UWP pertains to all income segments, it is largest for top-income levels (above the 90th percentile), and within this segment employer concentration also has the largest explanatory power. Thus, while being an important explanatory factor for all percentiles of the local income distribution, a relatively lower employer concentration within larger cities, and vice versa, higher concentration within smaller cities, primarily help explain the variance of top wages within these cities/labor markets.

Ratio Working Paper No 363: City Size, Employer Concentration, and Wage Income Inequality

Working paperPublication

Korpi, M., & Halvarsson, D.

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Publication year

2023

Published in

Rati Working Paper Series.

Abstract

In this paper, we build upon a monopsony framework, suggested by Card et. al. 2016, which links firm level productivity and rent-sharing to wage inequality. Specifically, our research questions address i) to which extent labor market concentration across firms (within different types of locally situated industries) affects variation in wages among workers within these firms and industries, and ii) how this variation in turn spills over into economy-wide inequality (measured at the level of local labor markets). Using linked employer-employee full population data for Sweden, and an AKM modelling framework to separate between worker- and firm-level heterogeneity, our results suggest that higher firm-level fixed effects (a measure of rent-sharing) is associated with lower labor market employer concentration, something which affects average wage income among firms accordingly. Addressing wage income inequality by applying our model to different segments of the local labor market income distribution, we find that reduced average employer concentration in larger cities accounts for almost all variation in the (positive) link between city size-and wage inequality, except for the largest metropolises where it captures around 30-50 percent of variation depending on the income segment that we focus on.

Ratio Working Paper No. 358: Native Population Turnover & Emerging Segregation: The Role of Amenities, Crime and Housing

Working paperPublication

Korpi, M., Halvarsson, D., Öner, Ö., A.V. Clark, W., Mihaescu, O., Östh, J. & Bäckman, O.

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Publication year

2022

Published in

Ratio Working Paper.

Abstract

Using geo-coded full-population grid-level data for the three largest metropolitan areas in Sweden, 1993-2016, this paper i) estimates the level and pace of ethnic segregation, ii) examines possible tipping points in this development, and iii) gauges the importance of several mitigating or exacerbating factors (such as the mix of housing area tenure type, different types of amenities, and crime). We use OLS and 2SLS to estimate outcomes at two different geographic levels; 250 x 250 square meter grids and SAMS areas (roughly equivalent to US census tracts), respectively. On average, we find that for every 1 percentage point increase in immigration, native growth is reduced by around -0.3 percentage points. Crime levels exacerbate developments and factors such as housing area tenure-type mix and access to various amenities slows it down, but only marginally so. Using repeated and single random sampling for cross-validation, and the twin common methodological approaches as suggested in the literature, we estimate possible tipping points in these segregation developments. In contrast to most other studies in the literature, none of our potential tipping points are however statistically significant when probing their relevance in explaining factual population developments, suggesting a rather more continuous – albeit steeply so – segregation process rather than a structural brake. In terms of tipping point methodology, our main findings are that fixed-point estimation is less robust than R-square maximization for small geographical units, and that the former consistently selects for lower tipping-point candidates than the latter.

Abstract

City size, employer concentration, and wage income inequality

Working paperPublication

Halvarsson, D., & Korpi, M.

Publication year

2025

Published in

Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy (IFAU)

Abstract

Ratio Working Paper No 363: City Size, Employer Concentration, and Wage Income Inequality

Working paperPublication

Korpi, M., & Halvarsson, D.

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Publication year

2023

Published in

Rati Working Paper Series.

Abstract

Ratio Working Paper No. 358: Native Population Turnover & Emerging Segregation: The Role of Amenities, Crime and Housing

Working paperPublication

Korpi, M., Halvarsson, D., Öner, Ö., A.V. Clark, W., Mihaescu, O., Östh, J. & Bäckman, O.

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Publication year

2022

Published in

Ratio Working Paper.

Abstract

Human Capital Theory and Internal Migration: Do Average Outcomes Distort Our View of Migrant Motives?

Abstract

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City size, employer concentration, and wage income inequality

Ratio Working Paper No 363: City Size, Employer Concentration, and Wage Income Inequality

Ratio Working Paper No. 358: Native Population Turnover & Emerging Segregation: The Role of Amenities, Crime and Housing

Human Capital Theory and Internal Migration: Do Average Outcomes Distort Our View of Migrant Motives?

Abstract

Similar content

City size, employer concentration, and wage income inequality

Ratio Working Paper No 363: City Size, Employer Concentration, and Wage Income Inequality

Ratio Working Paper No. 358: Native Population Turnover & Emerging Segregation: The Role of Amenities, Crime and Housing