Age,education and occupation differentials in interregional migration: Some evidence for Canada

This paper attempts to bring together the demographic literature on differential migration with economic analysis of regional labor mobility. This is done by estimating a rather simple form of economic model of migration by means of linear regression analysis for specific age, education and occupation groups of male interprovincial migrants in Canada. The data on migration are from the population sample of the 1961 Census of Canada. The pattern of migration differentials displayed by these data is broadly similar to that observed in the United States and elsewhere. The regression results suggest that differential migration by education and occupation groups may be accounted for by the varying responsiveness of the various groups to economic gains obtained through migration. While this seems to be generally true of age differentials as well, the relationship of those to regional income differentials is weaker and points up an important role of motivations other than economic gain.