ABSTRACT
During the 1970s and 1980s, with the rise in importance of the manufacture of sophisticated products for the national and regional economy, and with the transition to ‘intellectualisation of all phases of production’ (Nijkamp et al., 1988), the demand for educated manpower of a high technological level also increased. The spatial distribution of knowledge became a central factor in considerations of location among entrepreneurs, and emphasised for them the geographical distribution in labour force quality. Since migration is one of the main factors leading to changes in the spatial distribution and quality of the labour force, it has become one of the most important spatial flows influencing the development potential of each region. For a fuller understanding of this influence, an integrative geographic study should be made of: the characteristics of migrants, the variables which clarify regional emigration (characteristics of region of origin), the variables which clarify regional emigration (characteristics of region of destination), the volume of interregional migration, and so forth.
