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Author: Yoon, Byungsik
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Yoon, Byungsik
An Estimation of the Returns to Migration of Male Youth in the United States: A Longitudinal Analysis
Ph.D. Dissertation, Indiana University, 1995
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Earnings; Educational Attainment; Human Capital Theory; Income Dynamics/Shocks; Labor Market Outcomes; Migration; Modeling; Urban and Regional Planning

The human capital model of migration treats migration as an investment decision in which an individual is likely to move if he perceives that the present value of a future stream of earnings at a destination exceeds the present value of expected earnings at the origin by an amount at least equal to the cost of moving. This implies that the earnings of migrants increase faster than those of nonmigrants and the primary objective of this study is to test this hypothesis in a longitudinal framework. The hypothesis is examined on the basis of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979-1991. The target population is young males in the civilian labor force of the United States. This study is also confined to the individuals who can be presumed to make autonomous migration decisions. Rates of earnings growth are measured by the first difference of the natural logarithm of real annual earnings. The relationship between migration and earnings growth is examined in the context of a set of contemporaneous personal, occupational, and locational characteristics which are incorporated as control variables. The random effects model is used to estimate coefficients for the relationship between migration and the growth of earnings. Inter-county and inter-state migration are shown to have positive effects on the growth of earnings, at least for the first instance of migration in an individual's history. Coefficients that measure the effects of repeated instances of migration are not statistically significant. Educational attainment and job- related experience are observed to have positive effects on earnings growth for both migrants and nonmigrants. However, these effects are greater for migrants. The effects of migration on the growth of earnings apparently diminish with a migrant's age. The rate of post-migration earnings growth for migrants who are classified asprofessional, managerial, and technical workers, is also shown to be faster than that of their nonmigrant counterparts.
Bibliography Citation
Yoon, Byungsik. An Estimation of the Returns to Migration of Male Youth in the United States: A Longitudinal Analysis. Ph.D. Dissertation, Indiana University, 1995.