Does Migration Pay? Earnings effects from geographic mobility following job displacement

Abstract

Displaced workers are followed for ten years in order to analyse the earnings effects from internal migration. We utilise a large dataset containing all workers in Sweden who were displaced during 1987 or 1988. Effects from migration are investigated controlling for human capital, family, and labour market characteristics. Internal migration has positive earnings effects for men, while the consequences for women are in general negative or non-existent. Positive effects for immigrant men occur several years after migration, implying that long term effects are important to migrants and showing the importance of using a long observation period in migration studies.