The geographic mobility of American economists

Scope and Method of Study: This study is an attempt to identify those characteristics which differentiate migrants from nonmigrants, and to estimate the influence of each factor on the geographic mobility rate. The selected variables use 1964 data on economists for age, sex, level of highest degree, primary work activity, salary level, rural-urban location, U. S. Census division location, and the salary differential for 1964-1968. This study works toward developing a systematic, integrated approach for studying the geographic mobility of professional workers within a decisionmaking framework. A general model of geographic mobility which takes into consideration the private costs and benefits of migration to the individual is developed. Costs and benefits are of two types, monetary and nonmonetary, distinguished by whether or not they involve cash outlays. The hypotheses generated by this general model are then modified to include those characteristics peculiar to professional labor markets. These modified hypotheses are empirically tested by using a form of multiple regression analysis. The data on economists for 1964 and 1968 were furnished by the National Register of Scientific and Technical Personnel of the National Science Foundation. The 'matched sample' of 5,412 economists gives the location of employment for both 1964 and 1968. The first experiment is designed to test the hypotheses related to the individual migration decision by observing the influence of selected characteristics on the geographic mobility rate. The second experiment tests the net advantage hypothesis by detennining whether economists who moved during the observed time period received a higher salary differential than those who stayed in the same location. Hypotheses related to the moving costs and the information costs are tested in the third experiment through a gross flows of labor model, which is basically concerned with the influence of distance on the migration patterns of economists. The latter experiment also investigates the effect of migration in equalizing regional average salaries for economists. Findings and Conclusions: The findings suggest there is little difference in the characteristics of the migrant and the nonmigrant economists. The high geographic mobility rate, 34.85 percent, appears to result from a large number of individuals perceiving there were net gains to be derived from relocation during this period of excess demand for economists in the 1960's, rather than to pronounced differences in the characteristics of the movers and the stayers. The age variable is only of moderate importance in explaining the differences in the characteristics of the economists who moved and those who stayed in the same job. This finding is surprising, for migration studies generally find age to be the most important single explanatory factor. This investigation shows the geographic division to be the most important single factor, followed by the salary differential and age. Other factors contribute little to explaining the differences in the characteristics of the movers and the stayers. All factors, with the exception of highest degree held, were significant at the one percent level of confidence. The results of this study indicate that, ceteris paribus, movers receive higher salary differentials than stayers. The findings show that distance acts as an important impediment to migration; this conclusion agrees with those of related studies of nonprofessional workers. Examination of the migration patterns among the nine Census divisions shows there is a tendency for migration to be away from low-salary and toward high-salary regions which may have contributed to a narrowing of regional salary differ entials for economists during this observed time period.