Journal of Economic Geography, Vol. 4, No. 4, © Oxford University Press 2004; all rights reserved.
Do migrants follow market potentials? An estimation of a new economic geography model
* TEAM – University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne – CNRS, 106-112 Bd de l'Hôpital – 75657 Paris Cedex 13, France. email 
crozet{at}univ-paris1.fr
Abstract
New Economic Geography models describe a cumulative process of spatial agglomeration. Firms tend to cluster in locations with good access to demand, and similarly, workers are drawn to regions with good access to sources of supply. This paper provides an empirical assessment of this forward linkage that relates labour migrations to the geography of production through real wage differentials. In the spirit of Hanson (1998), we use bilateral migration data for five European countries over the 1980 s and 1990 s to perform quasi-structural estimations of a new economic geography model derived from Krugman (1991). The results show strong evidence in favor of this model. As expected, migrants do follow market potentials that measure the access to sources of supply. Moreover, we provide estimates for all key parameters of the model. These estimates suggest that a sudden emergence of a core-periphery pattern is unlikely within European countries; centripetal forces are too limited in geographical scope, and mobility costs are too high.
Keywords: economic geography, migration, European regions, agglomeration,
JEL classifications: F12, R12, R23
Date submitted: 1 June 2000
Date accepted: 15 January 2004
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  H. Garretsen and J. Peeters Capital Mobility, Agglomeration and Corporate Tax Rates: Is the Race to the Bottom for Real? CESifo Economic Studies, June 4, 2007; (2007) ifm009v2. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|