EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES, WAGES AND INTERREGIONAL MIGRATION IN SWEDEN1970-1989

In this study I focus on the impact of aggregate labor turnover and re gional labor market conditions on gross in- and out-migration within t he framework of a neoclassical flexible-wage (equilibrium) model and a fixed-wage (labor-market disequilibrium) model. Using annual panel da ta on internal gross migration flows in Sweden from 1970 to 1989, I fi nd that regional differences in employment opportunities have the expe cted effects on migration. The empirical relationship between real wag es and gross migration flows is found to be less congruent with theory implications, indicating that compensated regional income prospects a re equalized primarily via the interaction between employment opportun ities and gross migration flows. Cyclical changes in hirings are shown to have a robust and strongly significant positive scale effect on mi gration.