How do changing employment patterns affect the economic incentives to migrate within the England and Wales?

Abstract: It is important for any country to understand why its population makes certain choices on where to locate, since it can help to guide policy aimed at reviving deprived areas. Over the past few decades there has been a general trend for the population to migrate from the North to the South in England and Wales. Similarly, there has been an imbalance in the spread of new opportunities, with advanced services tending to locate in the South, particularly close London. This paper investigates whether changing employment patterns, away from manufacturing and towards services, has helped to facilitate migration within the England and Wales. There has been a distinct lack of empirical analysis in this area due to data limitations. Prior studies have had to utilise broad geographic regions in their analysis, providing limited insight into the reasons for such change. This paper aims to expand on these studies by looking at data on a more local level. This study made use of fixed panel regressions in order to estimate the effects of a region’s employment structure upon migration rates. The results indicate that neither the sector of employment, nor unemployment rates directly influence an individual’s likelihood to migrate. However, there is evidence to support the idea that population density influences migration, potentially as a result of agglomeration economies.