What Is Geographical Labor Mobility?

Geographical labor mobility is a measure of the relative ease with whi𒉰ch workers can relocate within a nation or region to find jobs that require their skills. Greater labor mobility in an econ🐷omy is associated with higher productivity in an economy overall.

Understanding Geographical Labor Mobility

Geograꩲphic labor mobility indicates the relative ease or difficulty that workers confront if they want or need to relocate to find better jobsꦯ.

Several factors determine geographic labor mobility, including the ease of movement and migration and the economic incentives to relocate. Physical, geographic, and political barriers to movement are key factors that can make moving more🌜 difficult.

A region's size and its job opportunities in part determine geographic labor mobility. At the personal level, however, factors such as family situation, housing availability, local infrastructure, and educational resources affect geographic labor mobilityꦬ.

An economy's level of trade is also a direct factor in the geographic labor mobility of its workforce. For example, increasing domestic and international trade requires that corporate offices and other support structures be opened in a number of locations, increasing job opportunities in these locations.

Other Elements That Affect Geographic Mobility

Other key factors can make geographic labor mobility more or less viable as an option. First, the aggregate level of education influences the mobility of the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:labor force. Higher ed🎐ucation🥂 levels are generally associated with a greater ability to move to find employment.

Personal and cultural attitudes also drive labor mobility. A person with a strong attachment to 🍸a place needs considerable motivation to relocate.

Another key determinant is 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:industrialization. Highly industrialized economies provide more 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:blue collar job opportunities, which increases the labor mobility of the economy as a whole. More specifically, an industrialized economy helps workers move from rural locations to larger cities where there are more 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:job opportunities.

Government policies heavily influence geographic labor mobility. In global economic terms, the European Union actively tries to increase the geographic labor mobility of individuals by helping qualified workers find employment in European countries where their skills are in demand.

If a government wants to increase geographic labor mobility, there are several actions it can take. The country can support transportation options, help raise the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:standard of living, and adv𒅌ance government policies that help with mo🏅bility within an economy.

Pros and Cons of Geographic Labor Mobility

Benefits of Mobility

Geographic labor mobility provides several benefits to a nation's economy. Chief among them is better allocation of the supply of labor and productivity.

An economic study published in The Yale Law Journal points out that geographic labor mobility makes managing macroeconomic stability easier and that local barriers to mobility can make macroeconomic policy less effective.

Downsides to Mobility

Mobility also has its downside. Labor mobility is associated with the dissolution of local communities and even the extinction of indigenous cultures as members migrate to seek economic opportunities and resettle in areas in which they are culturally alien.

Th෴is tends to erode soc𒁏ial capital in both the locations that workers leave and in new areas they move into.

Geographic labor mobility is also the direct cause of brain drain, or human capital flight, from developing regions and nations.

Geographic Labor Mobility In the U.S.

The history of the United S🌳tates presents an interesting case study of geographic labor mobility during and after the development of economic systems.

When t🍌he country was expanding westward and new industries were being developed, geographic labor mobility was at its peak. New migrants and American-born workers moved to places with economic promise.

However, the rate of moving has declined consistently since the 1980s. According to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:U.S. Census data, the rate of movement between states has fallen by nearly half since 1989 while the rate of mobility between counties has declined by almost 🌠a third.

Indeed, even during the coronavirus pandemic, labor mobility continued downwards in the U.S., with just 8.4% of people living in a different residence in 2021, down from 9.3% in 2020.

The Bottom Line

Geographic labor mobility is one factor among many that economists use to reveal and track the relative strength of a nation's workforce. In general, a population of workers who are free to relocate to take on new opportunities is more productive. Businesses that can recruit workers nationwide rather than locally are more likely to succeed.