Interregional Migration and Transportation Improvements in Iceland

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between migration and transportation improvements. More precisely, will transportation improvements between central business districts (CBDs) and rural areas make migration trends more favorable in rural areas? Due to household utility geographical differentials, there are interregional migration. Thus, it is resaonable to believe that transportation improvements that increase the access of rural population to the labor and the service market of CBDs will influence interregional migration in rural areas positively. I will examine whether this is true for Iceland, a thinly populated area with two CBDs. A macro panel data set from Iceland will be used. It represents several essential varaibles of the house market for seventy-nine municipalities in Iceland during the period from 1986 to 2006. Furthermore, I will investigate whether there are any gender aspects regarding the matter.

Do municipal amalgamations affect interregional migration?

“…The analysis conducted in this article relied on a new migration model and a large panel data set from Iceland (Karlsson 2013). The data for the amalgamation was added to the database from that research and the analysis repeated accordingly.…”

“…The data for the amalgamation was added to the database from that research and the analysis repeated accordingly. So, the present work builds on the original analysis (Karlsson 2013) in detecting possible explanations for the relatively large interregional migration that has been occurring in Iceland, especially for the past four decades or so.…”

“…All the above-mentioned papers were based on survey data -mostly in areas outside the capital area of Iceland. According to Karlsson (2013), women's migration was of more concern than men's migration. Thus, a municipality's ability to address this particular issue must be highly significant.…”

“…The current empirical model is based on previous work by Karlsson (2013) and a similar database where the internal migration pattern in Iceland was analysed. This work was selected because it is one of the most extensive analyses for interregional migration in…”

The rise of Asia in a changing Arctic: a view from Iceland

“…Iceland sees embracing Arctic economic opportunities as having the potential to drive countrywide economic growth, encourage foreign direct investment, and help address regional employment disparities between Reykjavik and the rest of the country (Interview #15). Rural Iceland is losing both jobs and population (Karlsson 2013), and an embrace of Arctic opportunities (such as the building of a transhipment port) is seen as helping to reverse this trend. An Icelandic researcher based in Akureyri explains why Iceland is interested in the Arctic:…”