Regional labor market dynamics and net migration

In this dissertation I examine the relationship between regional labor market dynamics and net migration. I present a model in which regional labor supply can adjust through migration and the labor supply decisions of a region's residents. In the most simple version of the model, migration decisions depend on the present value of expected future wages, local amenities, and the cost of moving. The model shows how net migration, wages, and employment rates jointly respond to different types of shocks.;Previous empirical studies of net migration do not separately identify the parameters that govern its response and therefore may overstate the effect of current wages on mobility. I use state level data to estimate an empirical model of migration in which these parameters are identified. I then use the estimates to simulate how regional labor markets respond to shocks that differ in their persistence and predictability. The simulations show that the responses of net migration, wages, and employment rates depend on the type of shock. For example, net migration responds more to permanent shocks and current wages and employment rates respond more to transitory ones.;I test the sensitivity of the main results to several specification changes. I use alternative measures of wages and net migration to examine measurement problems and metropolitan area data to examine the importance of my definition of a regional labor market. The main results are not sensitive to these changes. I also examine the links between age and net migration. I find some evidence that the net migration rate of young people is more sensitive to wages than is the net migration rate of older people. Finally, I examine the links between unemployment and net migration. I show that previous empirical studies of these links suffer from the same identification problems mentioned above. I find that unemployment and net migration are negatively related and but that previous studies may overstate the strength of this relationship.