Immigration and Inter-Regional Mobility in the UK, 1982-2000

Most studies that look across local labour markets have found the effects of immigration to be benign. One possibility is that immigrants to a specific area simply push non-immigrants onwards elsewhere, thereby diffusing the labour market effects. Examining net internal migration between 11 regions of Britain over two decades, we find consistently negative displacement effects but their magnitude and significance varies. The effects are somewhat stronger for the southern regions where immigration from abroad is concentrated. The results suggest that internal migration is one of the mechanisms through which regional labour markets adjust to immigration shocks.