American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
Education and Geographical Mobility: The Role of the Job Surplus
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 16,
no. 4, November 2024
(pp. 341–81)
Abstract
Better educated workers accept many more long-distance job offers, and relocate quicker following local shocks. I attribute this to a fundamental feature of their labor market experience, unrelated to geography: large returns to job match quality. If a good offer happens to originate from far away, the match surplus is then more likely to justify the cost of moving. This "lubricates" labor markets spatially. Using wage transition data (and a jobs ladder model), I show this can explain the bulk of mobility differentials. These differentials can be closed by subsidizing long-distance matches, and I quantify the cost of doing so.Citation
Amior, Michael. 2024. "Education and Geographical Mobility: The Role of the Job Surplus." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 16 (4): 341–81. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20230279Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- I26 Returns to Education
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- J41 Labor Contracts
- J61 Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
- R23 Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics: Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population; Neighborhood Characteristics
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