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A Life‐cycle Model of Locational Choice in a Two‐region Economy *
Author(s) -
Althaus Paul G.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of regional science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.171
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1467-9787
pISSN - 0022-4146
DOI - 10.1111/j.0022-4146.2004.00340.x
Subject(s) - amenity , economics , human capital , wage , function (biology) , capital (architecture) , labour economics , geography , economic growth , biology , archaeology , finance , evolutionary biology
The ability to use the amenities or other characteristics of a location may be a function of the length of time a household has resided in the location. We explore the implications of the hypothesis that the enjoyment of regional amenities depends on the accumulation of amenity‐specific human capital. We establish that the interaction of this human capital with regional wage rates determines life‐cycle locational trajectories. The model explains the timing of moves in the working and retirement periods of life as well as observed heterogeneity in household behavior. Small differences between households may result in dramatically different life‐cycle behavior.