A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of Family Migration and Household Production: Reply

Abstract

of her household production as factors in the family's migration decisions [38]. In this paper, the research on family migration will be extended in three ways. A formal model of household production and family migration will be developed and used to generate testable hypotheses about family migration. Variables, which otherwise would not have a clear economic interpretation, are incorporated into the model. The model will then be estimated and some policy implications will be discussed. One policy implication concerns the efficiency of the labor market. Labor market efficiency needs to be judged not only in terms of the efficiency of the job search of single individuals but also in terms of the efficiency of the joint job search of double income families. This paper is organized into five sections. First, a comparative static household production model of locational choice is developed.2 Next, this model of locational choice is used to develop a theoretical model of family migration. Third, the data and empirical model are discussed. Fourth, the empirical results are reported and interpreted in terms of three different types of migration. Estimates of the impact of selected variables on the distance of the move are also considered. The final section summarizes the general findings and offers some policy implications.