The effect of unemployment, housing tenure and commuting distance on interregional migration in the Netherlands

Despite an extensive literature on interregional migration, heterogeneity of migration costs is not well understood. This paper examines heterogeneity of well-known migration costs over groups, time and distance using a highly granular panel dataset for the Netherlands. The results suggest that renters in social housing are less mobile than those in private housing, since regional waiting lists increase migration costs. Unemployment only affects mobility during the first three months of unemployment. Interregional mobility increases substantially with current commuting distance. Future research should include more detailed measures to account for heterogeneity.