Migration and employment status during the turbulent nineties in Sweden

correlated with size and that the big urban areas have low intensities but net in-migration. This
result in high net in-migration intensities as a consequence of the small figures in the ratios.
The contrary is, of course, valid with respect to small local labour markets with both high in-
and out-migration intensities.

This observation is reinforced if we take a look at the employment situation (EMP) regarding
in to and out from employment. Even in these cases it is obvious that the labour market
development has a significant positive impact on the migratory movements. People with jobs
are moving to local labour markets where the labour market situation is good. This is also
clearly shown with respect to net migration where a good labour market situation is a pull
factor and a bad one a push-factor for people with jobs and this is also applicable with respect
to total net migration. The share of highly educated people (EDHIGH) is also positively
correlated with in- and out-migration from and to employment.

The “unemployment career” shows the same signs as the “employment career” with respect to
population size (POP). A large population is a restriction on out-migration of both
unemployed persons and such that are going to be unemployed - they can of course have been
unemployed already when they were moving out. This can be seen as a rational choice as a
large local labour market also is a more diversified one and the chance to get a job is better.
The opposite is, however, not valid - unemployed persons have no tendency to move in to
large local labour markets as well as there are no signs that in-migrants to large local labour
markets are subjected to unemployment more than others.

The same can be said about out-migration to or from unemployment with regard to the
employment development (EMP). A good employment development hamper out-migration of
unemployed persons as well as it hamper out-migration to unemployment. A good
employment development does not, however, stimulate in-migration of unemployed persons.
It is, thus, more the pull factors (POP and EMP) that hamper out-migration of unemployed
and people that run the risk of being unemployed as a consequence of out-migration even if
the same push-factors stimulate out-migration from stagnating or retarding local labour
markets. This is also in line with the human capital theory and can be seen as a rational
choice. That a positive employment development does not stimulate in-migration of
unemployed persons is, however, not in accordance with the traditional push-pull theory

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