Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/200489 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
LICOS Discussion Paper No. 405
Publisher: 
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, LICOS Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, Leuven
Abstract: 
This paper proposes a theory of migration decisions in which cultural traits play a role. Individuals are assumed to value comfort (high wages) and conformity (interactions with individuals who share similar world views). Regions are assumed to differ economically (average wages) and culturally (average world views and their diversity). The model shows that self-selection of inter-regional migrants on world views is non-monotonic if one region is more diverse than the other, and it weakens with economic gaps between regions. This non-monoticity can lead to a dichotomy of outcomes: culturally diverse regions become even more diverse because of migration, while culturally homogeneous regions become even more homogeneous. Consequently, Tieboutian sorting (people moving to the region in which world views are closer to theirs) only holds when regions have similar wages and diversity of world views.
Subjects: 
Migration
self-selection
culture
diversity
JEL: 
A13
F22
J61
Z1
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
891.71 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.