Author: Kiseok Hong(Ewha Womans Univ.)

The purpose of this study is to examine the interaction between migration and labor market conditions. Specifically, by minimizing the endogeneity problem, this study aims to reveal the causal relationship between migration and regional labor markets in both directions. Our empirical results indicate that youth migration is more sensitive to regional wage and employment disparities compared to migration among other age groups. This suggests that youth migration can play a key role in enhancing the overall efficiency of labor allocation. Additionally, the effects of exogenous population changes on wages and employment rates are found to be lower in the young population group than in other age groups. This implies that considerable time may be required for labor migration to reduce regional labor market disparities and subsequently curb further migration.