Internal Migration, Social Stratification and Dynamic Effects on Subjective Well Being

Marcel Erlinghagen, Christoph Kern and Petra Stein

No 1046, SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research from DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)

Abstract: Using German panel data and relying on internal relocation, this paper investigates the anticipation and adaptation of subjective well-being (SWB) in the course of migration. We hypothesize that SWB correlates with the process of migration, and that such correlations are at least partly socially stratified. Our fixed-effects regressions show no evidence of any anticipation of SWB before the event of migration, but a highly significant and sustained positive adaptation effect. In general, internal migration seems to lead to a long-lasting increase in SWB. This is found to be the case for almost all analyzed socioeconomic and socio-demographic subgroups. The migration distance, the reasons for migration, and the individuals’ socio-demographic characteristics do not appear to have any important effects on the overall observed pattern. Our results suggest that regional mobility is less a response to certain stressors, but is, rather, a response to an opportunity to improve job- or housing-related living conditions, and that these improved conditions are reflected in individuals’ SWB. Thus, migration under these circumstances is triggered by opportunities rather than by constraints.

Keywords: Subjective well-being; migration; relocation; life course; adaptation; anticipation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 p.
Date: 2019
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hap, nep-mig and nep-ure
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1046

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