Premium
Human Capital Migration: A Longitudinal Perspective
Author(s) -
Kooiman Niels,
Latten Jan,
Bontje Marco
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.766
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1467-9663
pISSN - 0040-747X
DOI - 10.1111/tesg.12324
Subject(s) - metropolitan area , human capital , context (archaeology) , demographic economics , geography , internal migration , wage , economic geography , position (finance) , cohort , preference , socioeconomics , economics , economic growth , labour economics , developing country , medicine , archaeology , finance , microeconomics
Based on micro‐level administrative data this paper aims to identify the role of internal migration in shaping regional and inter‐urban contrasts in human capital stocks in the Netherlands. We follow birth cohort 1979 from age 16 until age 35 and compare spatial trajectories between university graduates(‐to‐be) and their lower educated peers. We conclude that, in a context of dominating rural‐to‐urban migration flows, the highest educated(‐to‐be) are more than others attracted to metropolitan core areas and the Randstad. Second, we aim to test whether this urban preference may be prompted by spatial variation in socio‐economic progression by comparing changes in the relative wage position of employees in different spatial settings. Metropolitan settings and the Randstad in general are found to function more than other regions as socio‐economic escalators during the first phase of the labour career. However, these effects appear to be equal among educational groups.