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Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis Vol. 59 No. 5 2024

From L.A. to Boise: How Migration Has Changed During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Peter H. Haslag1; Daniel Weagley2

1 Vanderbilt University · 2 Georgia Institute of Technology

open access

Abstract

We examine how broad changes in work arrangements and lifestyles brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have affected households’ location decisions. Using data on over 360,000 residential, interstate moves over the last 5 years, we find that more than 12% of moves were directly influenced by the pandemic. Among pandemic-influenced movers, over 15% of households cite that remote work influenced their move. Lifestyle-related (job-related) migration increased (decreased) significantly, particularly for the set of households who are likely to have access to remote work. We further find that these changes in migration patterns are positively related to post-pandemic economic growth.

DOI
10.1017/s002210902300073x
Volume
59
Issue
5
Pages
2068-2098
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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