Regional Mobility and Spatial Inequality: Determinants of Spatial Labor Market Behavior Considering Firm- and Region-Specific Factors

Abstract

Regional disparities exist between states as well as within countries. In the Federal Republic of Germany, as a result of re-unification, there are still considerable regional differences in terms of economic conditions. Local economic and structural circumstances affect individual employment opportunities and can be a motive for migration. Based on rational-economic approaches, the article examines the spatial labor market behavior of full-time employees subject to social security contri-butions, taking into account individual, firm-specific and regional characteristics. Workplace mobility is analyzed as a job move between the macro regions of North, South and East Germany. For this purpose, a linked employer-employee dataset (LIAB) from the “Institute for Employment Research” is used, supplemented by regional structural indicators (INKAR) at the level of the spatial planning regions. The analyses using binary logistic regression models show that transregional mobility especially depends on individual characteristics such as age and qualifications. Regarding regional features, it can be seen that the emigration tendency of younger employees increases with the local level of unemployment. Overall, the results do not indicate that there is a single-track brain drain from structurally weak regions. Nevertheless, these regions face a problem in age-specific migration patterns. The outflow of young workers weakens structurally poor areas directly and permanently.