Crossing Frozen Ground: Tiebout, Local Public Goods, Place Amenities, and Rural-to-Rural Migration in the Arctic

E. Lance Howe () and Terry Huskey
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E. Lance Howe: Department of Economics, University of Alaska Anchorage
Terry Huskey: Department of Economics, University of Alaska Anchorage

No 2021-05, Working Papers from University of Alaska Anchorage, Department of Economics

Abstract: We estimate the effect of place amenities on rural-to-rural migration decisions for Iñupiat people living in remote Arctic Alaska communities. Using US Census microdata, we test Tiebout's (1956) hypothesis that “people vote with their feet” by examining how migration responds to local public good provision in Arctic places. We find that local public goods are an important determinant of rural-to-rural migration for people living in remote Arctic communities. Better educational opportunities, availability of housing, and modern water and sewer systems serve as important pull factors in rural-to-rural migration decisions. The study uniquely contributes findings for Indigenous people living in remote Arctic regions to the literature on amenity migration.

Keywords: Rural-to-rural migration; place amenities; public goods; Tiebout hypothesis; Indigenous migration; Alaskan Arctic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J60 O10 R10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 10 pages
Date: 2017-01, Revised 2021-11
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Published in Journal of Rural Studies, January 2022, pages 130-139.

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ala:wpaper:2021-05

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