ABSTRACT
An important aspect of labour market behaviour is migration. Several studies have shown that labour force migration and the probability of finding a job are positively related. Unemployment has also been found to stimulate migration. For instance, Van Dijk et al. (1989) found that personal unemployment strongly increased labour force migration within the Netherlands and within the US, ceteris paribus. However, such unemployment within the Netherlands promoted internal migration to another labour market solely for individuals who, in most instances, had ‘contracted’ for re-employment there. Conversely, estimates obtained for the U.S. provide indirect evidence of the existence of ‘speculative’ internal migration (i.e. migration without a job at hand). Among unemployed individuals, migration was also found to significantly augment re-employment prospects in the Netherlands while this was not the case in the US. This latter result lends further credence to the existence of speculative migration in the US., as well as to the risks assumed by migrants who undertake this form of job search. For a survey of related empirical findings, see Herzog et al. (1993).
