Long and Short Distance Migration in Italy: The Role of Economic, Social and Environmental Characteristics

TitleLong and Short Distance Migration in Italy: The Role of Economic, Social and Environmental Characteristics
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2011
AuthorsBiagi, B, Faggian, A, McCann, P
JournalSpatial Economic Analysis
Volume6
Issue1
Pagination111-131
Abstract

This paper analyses Italian interregional migration flows. The approach taken is to decompose labour mobility flows into short distance and long distance migration and to model the effects of economic variables, social capital and quality of life variables, and amenity variables, on the mobility behaviour of individuals. We estimate these different types of migration flows using a negative binomial model, augmented with instruments to control for potential endogeneity issues. Our findings demonstrate that long distance migration reflects a disequilibrium model of migration whereas short distance migration largely reflects an equilibrium model of migration. As such, attempts to model interregional migration in general will be mis-specified as the simultaneously-operating underlying mobility systems are quite different in nature.

URLhttp://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17421772.2010.540035
DOI10.1080/17421772.2010.540035
Keywordsamenities, disequilibrium, endogeneity, interregional, migration, social capital