Migration studies show theoretical concern about the age-selection of
migrants. According to them, migration-prone individuals move as soon as an
opportunity comes up. However, few of them have tackled selectivity using
the strong analytical tools that demographic research has developed in
other fields such as fertility or longevity.
This article is aimed at solving such a gap applying a multi-process event
history model for the processes of migration and leaving the parental nest
using a large panel data-set for the UK (i.e. BHPS). In the model we allow
individuals to repeat migration and to leave and come back the parental home
more than once. Allowing correlation in the error terms of each equation, we
found that the age at parental home leaving has not significant impact on
migration, but duration of residence since the individual left the parental
home impacts negatively on the hazard of migration. Three explanations
apply, (1) we controlled for selectivity, because individuals who leave
earlier the parental nest are selected towards migration, (2) social
background strongly mediates the opportunities of young people, and (3) the
opportunity cost exerted by location-specific amenities grows overtime. The
results also imply that those individuals who migrate earlier are more prone
to return, compared to late leavers, since they are highly dependent on
parental income. The policy implications of the article strive on strengthen
policies which impact on reducing the association between migration of young
people and social background / location-specific amenities, since it is a
strategy to solve low rates of internal migration.
Presented by:
Sergi Vidal (ECASS visitor, Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
Date & time:
November 26, 2008 1:00 pm - November 26, 2008 12:00 am
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