Interregional migration propensity and labour market size, Sweden 1970-2001

Abstract

The tendency in several European countries toward an increase in commuting has sometimes been presented as one possible explanation for why interregional migration propensity has decreased. This study is an attempt to investigate the impact of job availability on migration propensity over time. Other studies have shown that the size of the labour market has an effect on migration propensity, the same effect was found in this study. However, no evidence was found that job availability has become more influential on migration over time. The process of extended commuting has thus not made commuting opportunities more important as explanatory factor for interregional migration. This result may turn the commuting migration substitution argument around, suggesting that the increase in commuting is a result of declining migration tolerance in all places, regardless of the size of the labour market.