Interregional migration and housing structure in an East European transition country: A view of Lithuania 2001-2008

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between interregional mobility at the municipal level and the local housing structure in a country where the housing sector is characterised by a relatively high private ownership rate, a small private rental sector, and persistent undersupply of new residential housing. Panel data for Lithuania - an East European transition country - for the years 2001-2008 are used to analyse internal migration inflows and outflows. Besides the usual migration determinants such as unemployment and wage differences, housing sector characteristics are also included in the empirical analysis. The results show that internal migration flows are quite responsive to variations in housing market characteristics, especially to the supply of new dwellings, indicating that housing shortage is the key factor hampering interregional migration.