North American Migration: Returns to Skill, Border Effects, and Mobility Costs
用离散选择模型分析加拿大各省和美国各州的工人迁移，发现高技能者流向高回报地区，且北纬49度边界阻碍迁移；模拟显示减少边界效应比拉平两国回报更能促进跨境迁移。
Utilizing a utility-maximizing, Roy-type, discrete choice model of worker location in Canadian provinces and U.S. states that incorporates returns to skill, amenities, fixed costs, distance, language, and border effects, we find that individuals with higher skills migrate to areas with higher returns and that the 49th parallel attenuates migration. Simulations indicate that equalizing returns in the two countries has a modest effect on cross-country migration; however, reductions in border effects tend to have large nonlinear effects on it. Our results confirm the qualitative results of previous research emphasizing the importance of returns to skill and border effects in migration decisions. © 2004 President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.