Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/196637 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 12139
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper examines the role of labor market frictions and moving costs in explaining the migration behavior of US workers by employment status. Using data on low-skilled workers from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), I estimate a dynamic model of individual labor supply and migration decisions. The model incorporates a reduced-form search model and allows for migration for non-market reasons. My estimates show that moving costs are substantial and that labor market frictions primarily inhibit migration of the employed. I use the model to study migration responses to local labor market shocks and to a moving subsidy. Workers' preferences for non-market amenities, coupled with substantial moving costs and employment frictions, grant market power to incumbent employers. Large moving costs also likely affect employers' recruiting behavior.
Subjects: 
migration
job search
dynamic discrete choice
JEL: 
C35
E32
J22
J61
J64
R23
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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