Institutions, Agglomeration Economies and Interstate Migration in the United States

• Main Authors: James Taylor, 唐杰恩
• Other Authors: David Andersson
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/59286697938003954951

碩士 === 國立中山大學 === 企業管理學系研究所 === 99 === The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of interstate migration in the United States (US) from the perspective of institutions and agglomeration economies. Dependent variables used in this study relate to the net interstate migration of four distinct demographic groups; migrants as whole (MIGRATE), migrants aged between 22 and 39 years of age (MIGR2239), migrants aged between 22 and 39 years of age educated to the undergraduate level (BAMIGR), and migrants aged between 22 and 39 years of age educated to the postgraduate level (MAMIGR). Independent variables proxying for institutions are sourced from both the Mercatus Center and the Fraser Institute. The Mercatus Center’s economic freedom index (the MEFI) and overall freedom index (MOFI) represent the relative economic and overall freedoms enjoyed by residents of the 50 states. The Fraser Institute’s economic freedom index (FIEFI) also measures economic freedom. Agglomeration economy proxies relate to both creativity levels in state, measured by Richard Florida’s creativity index (SCI06), and education levels, measured by the percentage of a state’s population educated to the undergraduate level (EDUBPLUS). It is well established that crime and climate are factors that influence migration and these variables are controlled for in this study by using murder rates in the largest in-state city (MURDER) and the average annual number of heating degree days (HDD) in a state. This study uses multivariate linear regression to analyze the variables and the findings emphasize the importance of both institutions and agglomeration economies in explaining the migration decisions of US citizens. Institutions, proxied for by greater economic and overall freedoms, are shown to be more important than agglomeration economies for migrants across a broad range of demographic. Institutions are less important, however, for younger, better educated migrants who reveal preferences for good agglomeration economies and particularly creativity.