Spanish inter-regional migration: an enigma resolved

Abstract

This paper demonstrates that Spanish inter-regional migration, for many years unresponsive to traditional explanatory variables, is now explicable in terms of such variables. These include gaps in real wages, unemployment and distance. In the middle of the 1990s there arose an increased responsiveness of regional migration to such explanatory variables. JEL Classification: R23, O15, J61.

Internal Migration in Spain: Dealing with Multilateral Resistance and Nonlinearites

“…Then, Bentolila and Dolado (), Juárez () and Devillanova and García‐Fontes () confirm this conclusion, although the former raises some doubts about the intensity of these factors when explaining migratory flows. For their part, Mulhern and Watson (, ) prove that, apart from traditional economic variables, housing prices and distance (which can be considered a proxy for transportation costs) also influence the decision to migrate. By adopting a more microeconomic approach than previous papers, Antolín and Bover () and Bover and Arellano () demonstrate that personal characteristics not only have an important direct effect on migration but also an indirect one through their interaction with economic variables; specifically, these papers indicate that the higher the education level, the greater the probability of migrating.…”

“…Although the selection of variables is based on literature on this topic, it is admittedly ad hoc so that giving reasons supporting it seems to be pertinent. Regarding economic determinants, it has been proved in the literature that migrants are attracted by labour‐market opportunities that maximize their expected wages, choosing areas with higher wages and lower unemployment rates (Mulhern and Watson, , ; Etzo, ; Maza et al., ). Consequently, we include wages (WAGE) and unemployment rates (UR).…”

“…Furthermore, the accessibility of each destination is usually proxied by the distance from origin to destination, so migrants show less willingness to move as distance ( DIST ) increases (evidence for Spain can be found in Ródenas, ; Recaño and Roig, ; Mulhern and Watson, , ). Furthermore, it is also well accepted that housing prices differentials ( HOUS ) are a major determinant of migration decisions, making people move toward places where these prices are lower (Jackman and Savouri, ,b).…”

“…First, the literature on internal migration in Spain is not very conclusive. Some papers emphasize the relevance of economic drivers (García‐Ferrer, ; Santillana, ; Bentolila and Dolado, ; Antolín and Bover, ; Devillanova and García‐Fontes, ; Mulhern and Watson, , ) while others point to the increasing role of amenities (Ródenas, ; De la Fuente, ; Lago and Aguayo, ; Maza and Villaverde, ). Second, the pattern and composition of internal migration in Spain has changed remarkably over the last decade; this is the result of the massive arrival of immigrants in the early 2000s (Reher and Requena, ; Reher and Silvestre, ; Amuedo‐Dorantes and De la Rica, ; Hierro, ) and their greater mobility (Recaño, ; Recaño and Roig, ; Reher and Silvestre, ; Hierro and Maza, ).…”

What Drives Migration Moves Across Urban Areas in Spain? Evidence from the Great Recession

“…De La Fuente (1999) acknowledges that a decline in migration occurred due to the reduction of interregional income disparities and the adverse effect of a generalized increase in unemployment combined with the growth of unemployment benefits. Economists debated the underlying causes of the unresponsiveness to traditional explanatory variables, with Mulhern and Watson (2010) labelling it an enigma.…”