Gender differences in distance dependence of internal migration

Abstract

Distance is a primary deterrent to welfare-improving migration, yet less is known about how this deterrent effect varies across individuals. This study investigates gender differences in the distance dependence of internal migration. Analyzing rich, individual-level panel data from Japan with a multinomial choice model, we find a significant gender difference: women are less deterred by distance than men, ceteris paribus. This result, which stands in stark contrast to observations from aggregate data, is uncovered only after using microdata to control for the confounding effects of socioeconomic attributes such as education and employment. Our findings challenge common assumptions about migration patterns and suggest that population-attraction policies may need to be gender-specific.