Figure 2 - available from: The Annals of Regional Science
This content is subject to copyright. Terms and conditions apply.
Source publication
Two major challenges in Europe’s rural areas are an aging population and the diminishing share of human capital. While this pattern has been occurring for a long time, the effects are becoming acutely visible and impactful. The long-term loss of younger individuals has in many ways “drained” the labor market and the economic market power of rural a...
Similar publications
Introduction
The objective of the study was to examine the role of social value orientation and future time perspective to account for individual differences in pro-environmental behaviors, intentions, and opinions about the link between pro-environmental action and pandemic threat (three separate models) in Polish and Swedish samples expected to d...
Citations
... However, a special form of location-based analysis is found in the literature on return migration. In particular, social factors (family, social relationships and sense of belonging) or sense of place seem to be particularly important for return migrants (Bjerke and Mellander, 2017;Niedomysl and Amcoff, 2011;Rérat, 2014). Caprano (2019) provides an analysis independent of these structural factors. ...
... Using microdata covering the entire Swedish population, Bjerke and Mellander (2017) analysed the location choices of Swedish university graduates, focusing on the rural-urban divide. They find that the clear majority choose to move or stay in an urban area, but that the presence of family is a strong predictor of returning home for individuals from both urban and rural areas. ...
We conduct a discrete choice experiment to investigate how the location of a firm in a rural or urban region affects the perceived job attractiveness for university students and graduates and, therewith, contributes to the rural–urban divide. We characterize the attractiveness of a location based on several dimensions (social life, public infrastructure and connectivity) and vary job design and contractual characteristics of the job. We find that job offers from companies in rural areas are generally considered less attractive, regardless of the attractiveness of the region. The negative perception is particularly pronounced among persons of urban origin and singles. In contrast, for individuals with partners and kids this preference is less pronounced. High-skilled individuals who originate from rural areas have no specific regional preference at all.
... Remotely located students may struggle with the financial and other issues associated with long commute times or, alternatively, the family dislocation and broader social disconnection resulting from moving to pursue higher education (Kobus et al., 2015;Tigre et al., 2017). Furthermore, studies in a range of national contexts suggest that students relocating to pursue study are subsequently less likely to return to home regions (Bjerke and Mellander, 2017;Buttner R et al., 2017;Sowl et al., 2022) a 'brain drain' effect that further embeds existing regional disparities. ...
Higher education provision is a critical enabler of local, regional, and national social and economic development. Benefits of participation are well understood, but less is known about the relationship between the geographic location of students (relative to higher education institutions), their study choices, and subsequent outcomes. This scoping review explored existing evidence about the impact of geographical location (place) on course choices, completion rates, and achievement. Findings suggest that greater distance of students from institutions negatively impacts achievement and program/course completions. Distance to study institutions may also influence study choices, including level and field of study. Higher education providers must consider how best to spread resources regionally and better enable access for those from regional, remote, and/or rural backgrounds. Policymakers should consider location as a key factor in improving access and addressing inequalities in higher education.
... Thus, in this paper, after analyzing the effects of remote work experience on metropolitan out-migration, I also study the decision of experimented remotework migrants to move to either the suburbs or to inner territories (the hinterland). With this extension, I also intend to contribute to the persistent strand of literature on counterurbanization processes 5 , particularly in Sweden (Falk, 1978;Westlund, 2002;Lindgren, 2003;Amcoff, 2006;Hjort and Malmberg, 2006;Korpi et al., 2011;Elliasson et al., 2015;Bjerke and Mellander, 2016;Andersson et al., 2018a;Sandow and Lundholm, 2020). Therefore, I pursue an answer to the following research questions: does the widespread experience of WFH drive out-migration from large cities? Does it explain a preference for settlements in the hinterland or peripheral regions, instead of the suburbs? ...
... Subsequent and more recent studies on counterurban migration processes have stressed the role of disposable income adjusted for housing costs (Korpi et al., 2011) or proximity to urban centers (Elliasson et al., 2015). Bjerke and Mellander (2016) singularly account for the role of the creative occupation of individuals and the role of natural amenities, both factors playing a vital role in the vast literature explaining rural economic growth in the United States in previous decades (McGranahan and Wojan, 2007;McGranahan et al., 2011). Finally, Sandow and Lundholm (2020) study the role of knowledge-sector professionals in out-migration processes from metropolitan areas in Sweden, without finding significant effects for this group. ...
I examine how experiencing working from home (WFH) during the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the out-migration decisions of the working-age population of large Swedish cities. Using register microdata of individuals in the period 2015-2021, the results of this study show that the remote work experiment in 2020-2021 significantly increased the likelihood of moving out of large cities (8.7% in 2020, 12.5% in 2021) and of moving to the hinterlands (4.4% in 2020, 11.5% in 2021) compared to the usual internal migration flows before the pandemic. Such results highlight the new-found relevance of the ability to WFH (as an occupational characteristic) and the potentially associated experience (as a working arrangement) as drivers affecting individuals' residential location. Nevertheless, the relatively small size of the effects compared to other migration drivers and to the change in mobility patterns that the COVID-19 pandemic per se has brought to the entire working-age population in large cities cast doubt on the potential role of remote work in the future distribution of population across space.
... There is evidence that a range of populations are attracted to shrinking rural municipalities for varying reasons and varying periods of time, thus continuing to shape the advance and retreat of settlements across the North ). These include, on the one hand, labour migrants attracted by work-related and economic motives, such as young 'escalator migrants' in search of faster career advancement opportunities (Martel et al. 2013;Bjerke & Mellander 2017), and seasonal or temporary labour attracted by higher salaries, signature recreation opportunities, the prospects for exotic or extreme work experiences, and opportunities to balance lifestyle and economic interest on a seasonal basis (Lundmark 2006;Thulemark 2017). ...
The paradoxical situation of planning for growth while managing decline has long been a reality for politicians and planners in Nordic peripheries. In recent years, however, attempts to plan for demographic adaptation, smart shrinkage, and ‘right-sizing’ public services have become commonplace. While it has taken decades for this to become an accepted part of municipal planning, new opportunities are now arising in the Swedish North due to several unforeseen giga-investments. These are expected to trigger rapid socio-economic growth along the urbanized coast and in a few select inland locations. Yet the likely effects on shrinking rural and sparsely populated municipalities geographically adjacent to these investment hotspots are much less understood. Previous research suggests that such investment projects might cause pressure for rural labour and housing markets but may also offer a range of positive spillover effects and development opportunities for rural areas. We draw on structural level narratives and interviews with key informants, including local and regional political stakeholders, to identify how the prospects of the giga-investments are viewed in places that are not directly affected, and what opportunities and threats are discussed. An overarching theme identified in the empirical material concerns the a-spatiality of discourses of growth, which we divide into two concrete dilemmas: infrastructure and mobility. Our findings show that, while the investments are seen as ringing in a new ‘golden age’ for the northern region, such a-spatial understandings of regional characteristics might stand in the way of acting fast and being able to make the most of the potential spillover effects.
... Phillips et al., 2022), something which began in Estonia in the 1990s, has had two long-term impacts on rural migration, impacts which intensified during the pandemic. On the one hand, the increase in the share of young adults in each consecutive generation which has been seeking out a better education or working life in the cities has contributed to the rural exodus, as can also be found in other countries such as Sweden (Bjerke and Mellander, 2017), the Czech Republic Pavlů, 2018), or Spain (Llorent-Bedmar et al., 2021). On the other hand, both families with children and also retired people are now contributing to migration into non-metropolitan rural areas, especially since the start of the pandemic. ...
... The housing affordability issue has become pressing also in many cities around the globe (van Ham et al., 2021), and seems to have an especially strong effect on families with children. By way of a comparison, a study university graduates in Sweden shows that having children is the single strongest predictor of leaving the cities (Bjerke and Mellander, 2017). Our findings are very similar. ...
... However, motives of counter-urbanisation may be very diverse for families. For example, while Elshof et al. (2017) find that families in the Netherlands are attracted by the rural idyll, Bjerke and Mellander (2017) argue that role of rural amenities are modest in Sweden in shaping the migration of families. Instead, they relate counter-urban moves of families to high local levels of welfare, such as the availability of good schools. ...
This paper aims to shed new light on changes in counter-urbanisation over the past three decades. A specific focus will be placed on new features of domestic migration to non-metropolitan rural areas which have become apparent during the global coronavirus pandemic. We focus on the intensity, origins, and destinations of counter-urban moves, and on the individual characteristics of counter-urban movers. Based on a case study of Estonia, our main findings show, firstly, that urbanisation has been the predominant migration trend across the past thirty years, with the main destination of domestic migrants being the capital city and its urban region. Secondly, we find that counter-urban moves have gained importance over time and especially during the periods of economic bust. The most important new features of counter-urbanisation during the pandemic relate to the increased migration of families with children and people who have high-income occupations to non-metropolitan rural areas. These new features of domestic migration could serve to slow down or even reverse the long-term problem of population aging in the countryside and the loss of educated people there.
... One way to solve this is to use only those houses that are located in the zip codes that have both amenity-dense and amenity-thin apartments. 8 This has the caveat of having very few houses for every week of observation. Nevertheless, we can check whether our results presented in Section 5 are robust and do not change signs. ...
... ment prices have been increasing 0.08 percent more per week in the year before the pandemic. This may not be a large surprise: Sweden has seen high levels of urbanization in the past decades and especially Stockholm has increased in terms of the number of inhabitants(Bjerke and Mellander, 2017). Such urbanization, especially J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f Journal Pre-proof of higher educated young individuals, typically increases the apartment prices of amenity-dense areas. ...
We employ the Covid-19 pandemic as an unanticipated event in order to investigate the willingness to pay for consumption amenities such as restaurants, cinemas and theaters. We use a hedonic pricing model in combination with a time-gradient difference-in-difference approach. Our data set contains virtually all apartments for sale in the larger Stockholm area. We use a very detailed and flexible definition of the density of consumption amenities based on the exact location of these amenities and the walking distance from the apartments to these amenities. Although there are differences between specifications, we find a decrease of 3.9 percent of apartments that we label as amenity rich. Based on the average apartment price, this equals a drop of 195,240 Swedish Kronor (or almost 22,000 US dollars).
... It has been increasingly acknowledged that in the choice to migrate or to stay non-economic factors play a key role (Rérat, 2014). This decision is far from being guided only by labour market conditions: family still represents one of the most important drivers in location decisions after graduation (Bjerke & Mellander, 2017) and place attachment plays a role in the active choice of staying . Although the offer of job opportunities is at the root of the choice of leaving or returning, Ferrario and Prince (2014) showed that demotivation on future prospects has played a significant role in the case of a peripheral mountain Italian area. ...
The social and economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic are at risk of exacerbating the pre-existing intergenerational and interregional inequalities between and within countries, such as those between core and peripheral areas. In particular, in the latter, especially in Italy, the lack of opportunities and access to essential services may affect the current and new generations to come, while also compromising the development of the country as a whole. Against this backdrop, understanding young people's aspirations and needs is vital to produce evidence-based knowledge to inform policies promoting opportunities to stay in or return to these territories. This paper investigates young people's migration propensity, uncovering the individual characteristics and the factors explaining their propensity to leave their place or to stay and work there. Data come from a nationwide survey carried out on a representative sample of about 950 young people residing in peripheral areas of Italy, via a questionnaire designed and administered as part of the research-action project 'Giovani Dentro'. The study provides new and timely information about the difficulties, desires and plans of young people who choose to stay in or return to these territories.
... Back-to-the-land migration is poorly researched in contrast to the body of work on, for example, more conventional counter-urbanisation and lifestyle migration taking place in the vicinity of towns and cities. In Sweden, several studies have examined urban to rural migration (e.g., Agnidakis, 2013;Amcoff, 2020;Bjerke & Mellander, 2017;Eimermann et al., 2020;Niedomysl & Amcoff, 2011), but these studies primarily focus on general population redistribution rather on migration patterns connected to agriculture. Common reasons for moving to the countryside are summarised in terms of environmental factors, improved housing standards, general lifestyle factors and downshifting ideals (ibid) and recently also by the coronavirus pandemic. ...
In connection to concerns about e.g. climate change, peak‐oil, pandemics and the depopulation of many rural areas, there has been a counter migration from urban to rural areas in past decades. An important part of this counter migration is the so‐called 'back‐to‐the‐land' migration of former urban residents who move to rural areas and adopt primarily agrarian lifestyles. Through a review of 48 migration letters in which migrants write about their experiences of moving from urban to rural areas to commence agriculture, this paper explores the underlying ideals and agricultural practices of the back‐to‐land phenomena and discusses what significance this form of agricultural migration may have for understanding broader sustainability transformations and contemporary rural change. Important questions concern: What kinds of motives, practices and ideals underpin back‐to‐the‐land migration? What relevance does “back‐to‐the‐land” have for how we comprehend rurality and how the current food landscape is changing? Based on the letter reviews, this article illuminates four interconnected themes with regards to back‐to‐the‐landers practices and ideals. Back‐to‐the‐land as; i) rebelling payroll work and meaningless lives in the cities ii) reinvention and retrotopia iii) reconnecting with nature and cultivating resilient alternatives, and iv) resistance and silent revolution. The paper argues that the current back‐to‐land migration contributes to the construction of a renewed rurality – a reinvented form of rurality ‐ that are adapted to suit both present and future needs in world that is perceived as becoming more unruly. The paper further suggests that, although back‐to‐the‐land migration may not yet have any significant material implications on the current food system, the ideals and practices the back‐to‐the‐landers profess, provides an important imaginary of how we can comprehend an alternative ‘rurality’ that reconnect people, land and food in more sustainable ways, through e.g. benign ways of practicing agriculture and organizing the food system. In this light, the current back‐to‐the‐land phenomena can be seen as a particular form of sustainability migration of voluntary peasantry that are based on retrotopian ideals of a rural past that is paired with progressive sustainability practices of the present. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
... Ahlin et al. (2018) find that graduates in Sweden with better high school grades and from families with a strong educational background are more likely to start their labour market careers in urban regions, even if they grew up and went to high school in rural regions. Returning to the home region is often driven by personal, not economic reasons (Bjerke and Mellander 2017). Liu et al. (2017) find that the choice of university in China is predominantly driven by the spatial distribution of HEIs, but with preference for the national key universities, irrespective of distance. ...
One of the main challenges facing non-metropolitan regions is the attraction and retention of highly-educated young people. A loss of the brightest can lead to reduced business creation, innovation, growth and community well-being in such regions. We use rich longitudinal microdata from New Zealand to analyse the determinants and geography of the choice of destination of recent university and polytechnic graduates 2 years and 4 years after graduation. Rather than considering a range of location-specific consumption and production amenities, we assume spatial equilibrium and calculate, following Chen and Rosenthal (J Urban Econ 64:519–537, 2008), ‘quality of life’ and ‘quality of business’ indicators for urban areas that encompass all amenities that are utility and/or productivity enhancing (or reducing, in the case of disamenities). Specifically, we test whether students locate in places that are regarded as good to live or good to do business; and how this differs by field of study. Our estimates are conditional on students’ prior school (home) location and the location of their higher education institution. We find that graduates are attracted to locate in urban places that have high quality production amenities. High quality consumption amenities have heterogeneous effects on the location choice of students. Creative arts and commerce graduates are relatively more likely to locate in places that are attractive to business, consistent with a symbiosis between bohemians and business. Decision makers can leverage their existing local strengths, in terms of production and/or consumption amenities, to act as drawcards for, or to retain, recent graduates in specific fields.
... In this regard, Crescenzi et al. (2017), in analysing the reasons of graduates' return to an economically lagging region after they had moved away to attend university, prove that income is not the only driver in explaining migration decisions: quality of life, social networks and family make the difference. The importance of these factors is also stressed by Bjerke and Mellander (2017) who identify the "family" as one of the most important drivers in location decisions after graduation compared to other individual factors which hold even when looking at migration over the urban hierarchy. More in general, Rérat (2014) confirms that non-economic issues have a role in return migrations by pointing out that the "return" is far from being the sole consequence of labor market conditions. ...
The social and economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic risk exacerbating the pre- existing intergenerational and interregional inequalities, as well as the ones manifesting within countries, such as those between core and peripheral areas. In particular, in the latter, especially in Italy, the gaps in the access to opportunities and essential services risk affecting the future of the new generations, also compromising the development of the whole country. In this context, understanding young people’s aspirations and needs is vital to produce evidence-based knowledge to inform policies promoting opportunities to stay in or return to these territories. This paper investigates young people’s migration propensity uncovering the individual characteristics and the pull and push factors explaining their willingness to leave Italian inner areas or to live and work there.
The results come from a nation-wide survey carried out on a representative sample of about 950 young people residing in inner areas in Italy through a structured questionnaire designed and administered as part of the research-action project “Giovani Dentro”. The study provides new and timely information on the difficulties, desires and plans of young people who choose to stay in or return to peripheral areas.
