Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/183384 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
IFN Working Paper No. 1155
Publisher: 
Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), Stockholm
Abstract: 
Sorting of high-ability workers is a main source of urban-rural disparities in economic outcomes. Less is known about when such human capital sorting occurs and who it involves. Using data on 15 cohorts of university graduates in Sweden, we demonstrate significant sorting to urban regions on high school grades and education levels of parents, i.e. two attributes typically associated with latent abilities that are valued in the labor market. A large part of this sorting occurs already in the decision of where to study, because top universities are predominantly located in urban regions. Estimates from a selection model show that even after controlling for sorting prior to labor market entry, the "best and brightest" are still more likely to start working in urban regions, and are also more likely to remain there over long time periods. We conclude that a) urban regions are true magnets for high-ability graduates, and that b) studies of human capital sorting need to account for selection processes to and from universities, because neglecting mobility prior to labor market entry is likely to lead to underestimation of the extent of sorting to urban regions.
Subjects: 
Human capital
University graduates
Spatial sorting
Migration
Labor mobility
Ability
Geography of talent
Spatial selection
JEL: 
R12
J24
J61
I23
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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