Educational Attainment, Brain Drain, and Self-Employment: Examining the Interstate Mobility of Baccalaureate Graduates, 1993-2003

摘要

For states looking to grow their economies, it is essential to harness the greatest talent, ensuring that sufficient human capital exists to raise productivity, output, and incomes throughout the state. Some of these gains might stem from the creation of new enterprises, which Bruce et al. (2007) link to higher living standards. Many policymakers and economic development leaders worry about the net outflow of talent from their state, especially in rural or economically depressed areas. Each state experiences an ebb and flow of people moving in or out, but some states experience 'brain drain' more than others. With states investing heavily in the education of their youth, it can be disappointing to see some of their highest achieving students move away. With any luck, there is an equal influx of talent flowing into their state to compensate for those who choose to move elsewhere. This paper explores the mobility of labor from one state to another. There are many ways, of course, that one might study labor mobility, but baccalaureate college graduates provide an excellent test group. All of these graduates have devoted years to their studies and are ready to engage the 'real world' for success in the job market . To some, those opportunities will await them locally, allowing them to stay close to their family and friends. For others, however, the job market dictates a move to another city, state, or country. For many people, much of this is predestined by the time a student graduates with his or her bachelor's degree. Moutray (2008), for instance, found that one's choice of baccalaureate major was a major determinant in his or her eventual post-graduation employment decision. This research seeks to build on that work. Both papers use the U.S. Department of Education's Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B) data series, which tracks college and university graduates from the class of 1993.