Economic Dynamism: Interrelationships among Entrepreneurship-Friendly Environments, Geographic Mobility, and Labor Market Freedom in both the Pre- and Post-Great Recession Periods

Abstract

This empirical research study endeavors to elevate our understanding of the interrelationship of several aspects of economic dynamism at the state level in the United States. We investigate the factors influencing geographic mobility, i.e., both net in-migration and gross in-migration patterns, by simultaneously focusing on two hypotheses using state-level panel data covering the period 2005-2017, as well as Pre-Great Recession and Post-Great Recession sub-periods thereof. These two hypotheses are as follows: the pattern of geographic mobility is positively impacted by a business climate that is (a) friendly to the pursuit of entrepreneurship per se on the one hand and (b) migrants are attracted to environments having greater labor market freedom on the other hand. This paper reveals that these two hypotheses receive simultaneous empirical support (i.e., they are not incompatible with one another).